A new study has found that ingesting less than three sugar cubes of plastic is enough to kill a puffin.
In a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists measured how many different types of plastic seabirds, sea turtles and mammals would need to ingest to have a 90% risk of dying.
Scientists working on Ocean conservationfound that relatively small amounts of plastic are enough to kill many marine animals. This is the most comprehensive study yet to quantify the extent to which different types of plastic, from soft, flexible types such as bags and food wrappers, to hard plastics ranging from fragments to entire objects such as drink bottles, cause death to creatures that ingest them.
“We have long known that ocean creatures of all shapes and sizes eat plastic; we set out to understand how much is too much,” said Dr. Erin Murphy, Ocean Conservancy manager of ocean plastic research and lead author of the study. “The lethal dose varies depending on the species, the size of the animal and the type of plastic it consumes, but overall it is much less than you might think, which is worrying when you consider that more plastic than a truckload of garbage ends up in the ocean every minute.”
Loggerhead sea turtles have a 90% chance of dying after eating just two baseballs, and the amount of plastic equal to about a football can kill marine mammals such as porpoises. Animals often accidentally ingest plastic while hunting for food; for example, floating plastic bags resemble jellyfish, which sea turtles love to eat.
after promoting the newsletter
Even less plastic results in a 50 percent chance of death: less than one sugar cube gives puffins a 50/50 chance, and less than half a baseball's worth of plastic kills one in two loggerhead turtles.
Scientists analyzed the results of 10,412 autopsies around the world where the cause of death and the amount of plastic ingested were known. They then examined the relationship between plastic in the gut and the likelihood of death by modeling the total number of pieces of plastic and their volume. They analyzed the type of plastic to see if any particular type was more deadly to each group of sea creatures, and found that rubber and hard plastic were especially deadly to seabirds, soft and hard plastic to sea turtles, and soft plastic and fishing gear to marine mammals.
They found that nearly half (47%) of all sea turtles, a third (35%) of seabirds and 12% of marine mammals had plastic in their digestive tract after death.
To end the plastic crisis in the oceans and prevent more sea creatures from becoming extinct, scientists say governments must take action ensure a reduction in plastic production and improve waste collection and recycling.
“We are thrilled that this new study quantifies the impacts of plastic pollution on wildlife,” said Ocean Conservancy Director of Plastic Policy Dr. Anya Brandon. “While there is no single solution to this problem, these hard numbers confirm that our work to tackle particularly problematic items like balloons and plastic bags is truly meaningful. In the fight to protect our marine wildlife, every policy and every single action matters.”
