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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.
Using a blue whale's earplug, Trumble and Usenko were able
to extract and analyze the stress hormone cortisol, testosterone, organic
contaminants such as pesticides and flame retardants, and mercury,
demonstrating that both man-made and endogenous chemicals are recorded and
archived in whale earwax.