Dianne Kopec quoted in Portland Press Herald article on PFAS in birds and wildlife

White tailed deerMitchell Center Faculty Fellow Dianne Kopec was quoted in a Portland Press Herald article on PFAS in birds and wildlife. The article, “High levels of forever chemicals in Maine birds add to concern about food chain” discusses the work researchers in Maine are conducting to try to understand how perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are affecting fish, birds and mammals. Kopec is working on projects with UMaine’s Chatfield Lab on PFAS build up in wood turtles, and with the Wildlife Disease Genetics Lab at UMaine on a study of forever chemical exposure in wild game.

“We can’t forget that we share this planet,” Kopec said in the article. “Humans made PFAS, and if we can make it, we can clean it up. It won’t be easy, but it’s a problem that we must fix.”