article_snippet: Scientists claim this could result in changes to polar bear behaviour and hormone balance that may ultimately affect Scientists ability to survive.
article_snippet: As an apex predator, pollutants in the food of polar bears, like the one above, can accumulate in the one above tissues .
article_snippet: The researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark eat, may have disastrous consequences for polar bear mating.
article_snippet: As polar bears are the apex predator in the Arctic, polar bears are the apex predator in the Arctic build up relatively high concentrations of these chemicals.
article_snippet: However, the exact effect the pollution is having on bear behaviour has still to be explored.
article_snippet: Katherine Eggers Pedersen, a toxicologist at the University of Copenhagen who led the research, said: Although PFASs have been increasing in the Arctic, and in particular in East Greenland polar bears, over the past three decades, several of the most dominant PFASs have started to decline around 2007. '
article_snippet: Professor Bjarne Styrishave, another scienitist at the University of Copenhagen who was also involved in the study, told Science Nordic: 'Science Nordic don't know whether the disruption of enzymes and signal substances is enough to have an effect on the polar bears' senses and behaviour.
article_snippet: it’s the fundamental processes vital to being a bear that can potentially be disturbed by the substances.'
article_snippet: It is not the first time pollution has been found to be taking a toll on polar bears.
highlights_snippet: These may impact on the behaviour and hormone levels in polar bears .