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Clinical pathology of plastic ingestion in marine birds and relationships with blood chemistry

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-20, 05:43 authored by Jennifer Lavers, Hutton, I, Alexander Bond
Pollution of the environment with plastic debris is a significant and rapidly expanding threat to biodiversity due to its abundance, durability, and persistence. Current knowledge of the negative effects of debris on wildlife is largely based on consequences that are readily observed, such as entanglement or starvation. Many interactions with debris, however, result in less visible and poorly documented sublethal effects, and as a consequence, the true impact of plastic is underestimated. We investigated the sublethal effects of ingested plastic in Flesh-footed Shearwaters (Ardenna carneipes) using blood chemistry parameters as a measure of bird health. The presence of plastic had a significant negative effect on bird morphometrics and blood calcium levels and a positive relationship with the concentration of uric acid, cholesterol, and amylase. That we found blood chemistry parameters being related to plastic pollution is one of the few examples to date of the sublethal effects of marine debris and highlights that superficially healthy individuals may still experience the negative consequences of ingesting plastic debris. Moving beyond crude measures, such as reduced body mass, to physiological parameters will provide much needed insight into the nuanced and less visible effects of plastic.

History

Publication title

Environmental Science and Technology

Volume

53

Issue

15

Pagination

9224-9231

ISSN

0013-936X

Department/School

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies

Publisher

Amer Chemical Soc

Place of publication

1155 16Th St, Nw, Washington, USA, Dc, 20036

Rights statement

Copyright 2019 American Chemical Society

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Marine biodiversity

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