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.
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42 Articles
Inside Climate News
ecotopical.comDeadly in Small Doses: New Research Shows the Lethal Effects of Ingested Plastic on Marine Animals
Fragments of rubber balloons, plastic bags and fishing line can cause fatal blockages and injuries in sea turtles, seabirds and marine mammals, according to a new analysis.
Groundbreaking research identifies lethal dose of plastics for seabirds, sea turtles and marine mammals: “It’s much smaller than you might think”
By studying more than 10,000 necropsies, we now know how much plastic it takes to kill seabirds, sea turtles, and marine mammals, and the lethal dose is much smaller than you might think.
Los Angeles Times
How little plastic does it take to kill marine animals? Scientists have answers
Ocean plastic kills sea creatures. For the first time, researchers set out to find out how much it takes. The answer: Surprisingly little.
Lethal dose of plastics for ocean wildlife: Surprisingly small amounts can kill seabirds, sea turtles and marine mammals
By studying more than 10,000 necropsies, researchers now know how much plastic it takes to kill seabirds, sea turtles, and marine mammals, and the lethal dose is much smaller than you might think. Their new study titled "A quantitative risk assessment framework for mortality due to macroplastic ingestion in seabirds, marine mammals, and sea turtles" is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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