Biologists warn hunters of dangerous PFAS levels in Holloman Lake birds
OTERO COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) – Hunters beware: A University of New Mexico (UNM) study has raised questions about wild duck meat after researchers found ‘extraordinary’ levels of chemical contamination in birds near Holloman Air Force Base. Experts spoke about how widespread the problem could be.
“Wild game doesn’t come with warning stickers,” said Rick Shean, division director of the Resource Protection Division with the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED).
It’s the environment department’s reaction to a major discovery of chemical contamination in southern New Mexico’s wild birds.
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“We were shocked by the results. We’ve seen wildlife PFAS data from around the world, and the concentrations we’re finding at Holloman are as high as have been seen at chemical spill sites near chemical manufacturing facilities,” says Christopher Witt, professor of biology at UNM.
A UNM-led study found extremely high levels of PFAS contamination in nearly two dozen bird and mammal species at the lake near Holloman Air Force Base—an important breeding ground for migratory birds that researchers say is now toxic with levels nearly three or four times the amount of PFAS that’s considered dangerous.
“There’s this system of wetlands that were intended to catch wastewater from the air force base and they also have been catching PFAS runoff over the decades,” Witt said. Those manmade chemicals don’t break down easily and accumulate in living tissues.
“PFAS affects the endocrine system, thyroid function, the immune system. It causes cancer; it causes developmental defects, and it does so even at very low concentrations in the body,” Witt stated.
Researchers at UNM have found that the ducks at Holloman Air Force Base were extraordinarily contaminated—to the point where humans shouldn’t be consuming them at all.
“It turns out that it’s on the scale of milligrams per week that would be safe to consume. So, basically, there’s no safe consumption level for duck meat from Holloman Air Force Base.”
And, those species migrate: “It’s a hemisphere-wide issue and pollutants are being transported across the hemisphere by these migratory birds,” Witt explained. That could mean anywhere in New Mexico, as well.
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“It’s not a story about a contaminated lake here in southern New Mexico. It’s a story about anyone who likes to go hunting, hunting, and fishing, who likes to eat wild game and serve it at their table. Their food may be highly toxic coming from hundreds of miles away, if not thousands of miles away,” Shean said.
The environment department is now pushing for more PFAS testing around New Mexico to see if birds in other areas are also contaminated.
