US EditionStudy Reveals Tiny Amounts of Plastic Can Kill Ocean Wildlife
Study quantifies lethal plastic ingestion thresholds for sea birds, marine mammals, and turtles using over 10,000 necropsies, highlighting species-specific risks and high plastic exposure rates.
- Published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Ocean Conservancy researchers found ingesting less than three sugar cubes for seabirds, just over two baseballs for sea turtles, and about a soccer ball for marine mammals causes 90% mortality.
- Using more than 10,000 necropsies, the team modeled how plastics in the gut relate to death by pieces and volume, analyzing 10,412 reports with known causes from Erin Murphy and collaborators at University of Tasmania, CSIRO, and Universidade Federal de Alagoas.
- The analysis shows material matters: rubber proved deadly for seabirds with six pea-sized pieces 90% lethal, marine mammals face risk at 29 pieces, and sea turtles at 342 pieces of plastic.
- Dr. Chelsea Rochman and Ocean Conservancy urged lawmakers to use the thresholds to shape bans and cleanup efforts, noting nearly half the animals ingested plastics and were threatened or endangered.
- Murphy warned the findings understate the overall threat, as the paper excluded entanglement and toxicity amid global plastic pollution totals exceeding 11 million metric tonnes annually.
57 Articles
57 Articles
Lethal dose of plastic for seabirds and marine animals ‘much smaller than expected’
New research has found that even small amounts of plastic can be deadly to seabirds, sea turtles and marine mammals. While previous research has established that plastic can lead to mortality in many species, this new study identifies the types and amounts of plastic that pose the greatest danger, and estimates how likely an animal is to die after ingesting it. The study authors found the lethal dose to be much smaller than expected. The team of…
New study reveals fatal toll of everyday item discovered in wild animals: 'Lethal doses are much smaller than one might think'
Plastic waste can sit in the environment for centuries. For example, a plastic straw can take around 200 years to break down, according to the World Wildlife Fund. The lifespan of the plastic means it has more time to impact wildlife, and it's deadly. A study shows just how little plastic it takes to kill animals that ingest it, according to The New York Times. What's happening? The study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Scie…
New study finds that ingesting even small amounts of plastic can be fatal for marine animals
When swallowed, plastics can block or puncture an animal’s organs or cause lethal twisting of the digestive tract, also known as torsion. (Troy Mayne/Ocean Conservancy)Plastics are everywhere, and the ocean is no exception: 11 million metric tons of plastics enter the ocean every year, where they spread far and wide, making their way to the deepest trenches and remote Arctic islands. We have long known that marine animals can mistake plastic bag…
This Small Amount of Plastic Is Enough to Kill a Sea Turtle
The ocean is awash with plastic—more than 171 trillion pieces, scientists have estimated, and growing all the time. Animals get tangled in plastics or swallow them, the chemicals released by the stuff are often toxic, and once the plastic is inside a creature, it can stay inside of it, potentially blocking its airways or intestines. A binding global treaty regulating the manufacturing and disposal of plastic could help change the situation. Wh…
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