The testing was done in a remote, isolated area far from industrial and agricultural pollution. In fact, there is little industry and few people anywhere close by. However, over 45 years ago atomic weapon testing was done in the area.
The media is reporting that the people who are eating the eggs of the birds are perfectly safe, but the birds' eggs weren't even tested. And if the birds' droppings contain elevated levels of these contaminants, so do the birds - and the birds' eggs. Eating mercury, lead, cadmium and aluminum is never safe and since these are in birds from isolated areas of the Arctic, it's curious to wonder what contaminants are in birds from more populated industrialized areas. Since the birds obtained these toxic poisons from the fish and shellfish they ate, it's also safe to assume that fish from less isolated areas - closer to industries and toxic agricultural runoff - are equally as polluted and likely far more so. Yet, many people are eating those fish regularly - and their poisons too.
