It is no longer just about turtles or whales, suffering the consequences of our plastic pollution. For the first time, a team of scientists from the University of Central Florida (USA) has discovered and quantified microplastics in 63 raptors of different species, terrestrial and aquatic (including hawks, ospreys or owls) in the area of Florida .
Microplastics or microspheres are small pieces or pieces of plastic, less than 5 millimeters , that come from larger plastics such as synthetic clothing, toothpaste, soaps or exfoliating creams, and that remain in the environment in high concentrations, especially in marine and lake ecosystems.
Now, the new study published in the journal Enviromental Pollution reveals the sad discovery of up to 1,200 pieces of microplastics inside a wide range of raptors. And it is that the accumulation of microplastics in their digestive systems could cause poisoning, starvation and death. And not only this, let us remember that raptors are critical for the proper functioning of the ecosystem.
“Raptors are the top predators in the ecosystem and by changing the population or health status of the top predator, it completely disrupts all the animals, organisms and habitats below them in the food web,” says Julia Carlin of the UCF Biology department and study leader.
Plastic does not decompose
Researchers dissected the stomach contents of 63 dead raptors found in Florida representing eight different species. They found microplastics in each of them, which equates to a total of almost 1,200 pieces of microplastics. The birds were either dead before reaching the research center or had died within 24 hours of arrival without consuming food during captivity. Blue and transparent microfibers accounted for the vast majority (86%) of total plastics, followed by a variety of other microfragments (13%), macroplastics (0.7%), and microbeads (0.3%).
Anything over 60 raptors does not represent a large sample size in a research paper, so it is not possible to draw firm conclusions about how widespread the problem is in the area or even across the state. However, experts argue that their results clearly show a clearly worrying trend.
“Raptors are the top predators in the ecosystem and by changing the population or health status of the top predator, it completely disrupts all the animals, organisms and habitats below them in the food web,” Julia Carlin, lead author of the study. and a graduate of the UCF Department of Biology, said in a statement.
As early as the 1960s, scientists first observed the ingestion of large pieces of plastic by animals, and the ingestion of microplastics began around 2010, according to the authors.
Previous studies have documented increasing amounts of microplastics in the intestines of filter-feeding fish, seabirds, and invertebrates, such as oysters. There have also been recent reports of whales dying from eating tens of kilos of plastic, including plastic bags. However, the raptors had not been thoroughly examined before, in part due to their protected status.
There is more and more scientific evidence showing that microplastic pollution has a detrimental effect on wildlife and the ecosystems that support it . Clearly, larger microplastics can be a hazard when ingested as they can get lodged in your digestive tract, but there is also evidence to suggest that even small pieces could have a toxic effect on animals.
To do
In terms of solutions, experts say that removing plastic waste from open landfills (so birds can’t catch it), adapting water treatment facilities to capture microplastics, and switching to natural fibers in the textile industry could help. .
Referencia: Julia Carlin, Casey Craig, Samantha Little, Melinda Donnelly, David Fox, Lei Zhai, Linda Walters. Microplastic accumulation in the gastrointestinal tracts in birds of prey in central Florida, USA. Environmental Pollution, 2020; 264: 114633 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114633
