Earwax used to develop new method of determining lifetime contaminant exposure in whales
Monday, September 16, 2013 - 17:30
in Biology & Nature
(Phys.org)—Baylor University professors Stephen Trumble, Ph.D., and Sascha Usenko, Ph.D., have developed a novel technique for reconstructing contaminant and hormone profiles using whale earplugs, determining—for the first time—lifetime chemical exposures and hormone profiles—from birth to death—for an individual whale, information that was previously unattainable.