PLANKTON BLOOMS
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Plastic in the remains of a sea bird
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STOMACHS
NOW WITH MICROBEADS
Once ingested, microbeads cause a multitude of problems for their unlucky host, including cellular necrosis, lacerations in the digestive tract and starvation due to intestinal blockage. It is currently unknown how long these plastics will stay in animals digestive tracts. In large enough quantities they could prevent a fish from swimming deeper as the beads inside the fish force it to float towards the surface. The toxins from the microbeads have also been found to transfer toxins to consuming fish fatty tissues. This transference between bead to fish does not stop there, these toxin are then spread further up the food chain. However, after being ingested, the problem of microbeads still persists for other species: at least 44% of marine birds are known to ingest plastics, either directly from the water itself or through the animals they consume. In a study monitoring northern fulmars, scientists found that the amount of ingested plastics had nearly doubled in almost 30 years. The real kicker? 92.1% of the plastics were from consumer goods, not industrial plastics.
FISH STICKS
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References:
- Andrady, A. L. (2011). Microplastics in the marine environment. Marine Pollution Bulletin 62, 1596-1605. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul2011.05.030
- Avery-Gomm, S., O’Hara, P. D., Kliene, L., Bowes, V., Wilson, L. K., & Barry, K. L. (2012). Northern fulmars as biological monitors of trends of plastic pollution in eastern north pacific. Marine Pollution Bulletin 64, 1776-1781.
- Boerger, C. M., Lattin, G. L., Moore, S. L., & Moore, C. J. (2010). Plastic ingestion by planktivorous fishes in the north pacific central gyre. Marine Pollution Bulletin 60, 2275-2278.
- Bouwmeester, H., Hallman, P. C. H., & Peters, R. J. B. (2015). Potential health impact of environmentally released micro- and nonplastics in the human food production chain: Experiences from nanotoxicology. Environmental Science & Technology 49, 8932-8947. doi:10.1021/acs.est.5b01090
- Rios, L. M., Moore, C., Jones, P. R. (2007) Persistent organic pollutants carried by synthetic polymers in the ocean environment. Marine pollution bulletin 54, 1230-1237. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2007.03.022
- Thompson, R. C., Olsen, Y., Mitchell, R. P., Davis, A., Rowland, S. J., John, A. W. G., McGonigle, D., & Russell, A. E. (2004). Lost at Sea: Where is all the plastic? Science 304, 838.
- Wright, S. L., Thompson, R. C., & Galloway, T. S. (2013). The physical impacts of microplastics on marine organisms: A review. Environmental Pollution 178, 483-492.