Birds
Consequences for marine species
Many species of marine animals are affected by plastic waste in and around the sea
at 136 species of marine life
It is known that they are regularly caught in plastic waste and strangulated. Studies on dead whales, dolphins, sea turtles, seabirds and many fish species show that they confuse and swallow plastic particles with food. Your stomachs will eventually be unable to absorb food. Each year about one million seabirds and about 100,000 other marine life die.
Even in regions far removed from civilization, seabirds die of plastic floating in the sea. This is what they do Photos of albatrosses by US photographer Chris Jordan
clearly that this has taken up on the Midway Islands in the Pacific. On his website is also a short excerpt of the film
to see about the Albatross project.
Plastic finds in the stomach of a dead Albatross kitten on the Midway Islands (exhibition Royal Albatross Centre, Otago Peninsula, Dunedin, New Zealand
Pollution of marine organisms in the North Sea and Baltic Sea
The pollution of domestic seas is also worrying. In the North Sea, for example, 96 percent of the dead stranded fulmars have plastic parts in their stomachs, on average 25 pieces. Approximately 98% of the nests in the gannet colony on Helgoland contain plastics, which has increased the mortality rate of adult birds by a factor of 2-5. Pilot monitoring of plastic particles in the gastrointestinal tracts of 258 fish living in open water and 132 fish living on the seabed in the North Sea and Baltic Sea revealed microplasticity in 69% of the fish samples investigated (investigated species were herrings, sprats, fludders, dab and plaice).(Source: German Environment Agency - Umweltbundesamt).
Risks for human beings
Microplastics, washed into the sea, absorb substances such as flame retardants, insecticides, dyes and organic chlorine compounds. Many of these substances are suspected of being carcinogenic or hormonally effective. Experiments on mussels have shown that these microplastics store particles in the tissue that subsequently lead to inflammation. The consequences of microplastics reaching humans via the food chain have not yet been scientifically proven.
Microplastics, washed into the sea, absorb substances such as flame retardants, insecticides, dyes and organic chlorine compounds. Many of these substances are suspected of being carcinogenic or hormonally effective. Experiments on mussels have shown that these microplastics store particles in the tissue that subsequently lead to inflammation. The consequences of microplastics reaching humans via the food chain have not yet been scientifically proven.