Associations between faecal chemical pollutants and hormones in primates inhabiting Kibale National Park, Uganda.

While anthropogenic pollutants are known to be a threat to primates, our understanding of exposure to pollutants and their sub-lethal effects is still limited. We used non-invasive biomonitoring to examine associations between faecal concentrations of 97 chemical pollutants and faecal hormone metabolites of cortisol and oestradiol in four primate species inhabiting Kibale National Park, Uganda (chimpanzees-, olive baboons-, red colobus- and red-tailed monkeys-). Across all species ( = 71 samples), results demonstrated positive associations of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) ( = 0.143, = 0.020) and organophosphate esters ( = 0.112, = 0.003) with cortisol in adult females. Additionally, we observed positive associations of OCPs ( = 0.192, = 0.013) and brominated flame retardants ( = 0.176, = 0.004) with cortisol in juveniles. Results suggest that cumulative pesticides and flame retardants are disruptive to endocrine function in these populations, which could have implications for development, metabolism and reproduction. Our study further demonstrates that faeces can be an important, non-invasive matrix for examining pollutant-hormone associations in wild primates and other critical wildlife populations.