Toxic Waste Creates Hermaphrodite Polar Bears

Summary

January 10, 2006 - Due to pollution and contamination by Polychlorinated Biphenyl and Polybrominated Diphenyl, 1 in 50 female Polar Bears in the Svalbard Islands of Norway also have male sex organs. These hermaphrodite bears occur because of chemical compounds in plastic working their way up the food chain in greater concentrations, a process known as Biomagnification. The average Polar Bear in Svardland has 70 times as much PCB and PBDE in their system as the seals they feed upon.

Source

Bibliography

1. Original Article

Game and Story Use

• Most hermaphrodites are sterile, but the article specifically refers to the polar bear hermaphrodites as being female. If they are fertile, and the plastic altered their DNA (instead of just messing up their horomone levels), then this could be the mutation that saves the endangered Polar Bear.
  • Ok, that's really a stretch, but we are talking about gaming here, and you have to admit there'd be some fun to a After The End setting where free love hermaphrodite bears and humvee-sized spiders battle for supremacy.
• See the Polychlorinated Biphenyl page for more ideas.