New study first to link plastic ingestion and dietary metals in seabirds

October 26th, 2020

PhysOrg.com, Other, 23/10/2020, Lara Van Raay
A new study by scientists from the University of Tasmania, CSIRO and the University of South Australia is the first to find a relationship between plastic debris ingested by seabirds and liver concentrations of mineral metals, with potential links to pollution and nutrition. […] Lead author Dr. Lauren Roman from CSIRO and UTAS’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies said the effects were small, but given that seabirds already experience multiple challenges of the high seas such as prey shortage and severe storms, plastic may compound the impact of other stressors such as fisheries and climate change.