Persistent pollutants push polar bear penises to breaking point

Male polar bears don’t have it easy. The Arctic ice shelf is vanishing and food is growing scarce. But now scientists are worried that exposure to toxic chemicals is causing osteoporosis in polar bears – which could result in their fragile penis bones snapping, making mating impossible.

Danish scientists have found that those polar bears exposed to the highest levels of persistent organic pollutants – including the pesticide DDT, fungicides and solvents – are more likely to have a condition called osteopenia, a precondition for osteoporosis. Bone strength decreases with age, so the researchers studied the penis bones of 349 polar bears in the prime of their lives – between three and nine years old.