New Disease Caused by Plastics Discovered in Seabirds

A new disease caused solely by plastics has been discovered in seabirds. The birds identified as having the disease, named plasticosis, have scarred digestive tracts from ingesting waste, scientists at the Natural History Museum in London say. From a report: It is the first recorded instance of specifically plastic-induced fibrosis in wild animals, researchers say. Plastic pollution is becoming so prevalent that the scarring was widespread across different ages of birds, according to the study, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials. Young birds were found to have the disease, and it is thought chicks were being fed the plastic pollution by parents accidentally bringing it back in food. Scientists, including the Natural History Museum's Dr Alex Bond and Dr Jennifer Lavers, studied flesh-footed shearwaters from Australia's Lord Howe Island to look at the relationship between levels of ingested plastic and the proventriculus organ -- the first part of a bird's stomach. They found that the more plastic a bird had ingested, the more scarring it had. The disease can lead to the gradual breakdown of tubular glands in the proventriculus. Losing these glands can cause the birds to become more vulnerable to infection and parasites and affect their ability to digest food and absorb some vitamins.

Now, about humans

[whitroth]

What, after all these years, I have a first post?

Now I'm waiting to find out that humans have the same thing, in a small degree. And if this affects weight loss/gain, allergies, etc.

Re:

[RemindMeLater]

Plastics are also known to mimic estrogen. One wonders if there's a connection to the growing gender identity movement which seems to largely go in the direction of men thinking they are women.

Re:

[Joce640k]

One wonders if there's a connection to the growing gender identity movement

Also the global drop in fertility.

(...which is also linked to when Don Draper convinced everybody to start drinking water from plastic bottles)

Re:

[geekmux]

What, after all these years, I have a first post?

Now I'm waiting to find out that humans have the same thing, in a small degree. And if this affects weight loss/gain, allergies, etc.

Everything from the shit you put on your body, to the shit you put in your body, has been deemed likely or probably carcinogenic by the state of California. It's about the only thing I can see coming out of that state that might be worth paying attention to.

Other than that, 1 in 3 humans will likely be diagnosed with cancer. That's up from 1 in 100 a century ago. Now, you tell me if that can ALL be chalked up to "old age" like Greed profiting from harm wants you to believe.

Re:

[Lije Baley]

I think there's been a little bit of change in the diagnostics over the past 100 years.

SeaRats

[l810c]

Seagulls will explode if they eat Alka-Seltzer

Re:

[VeryFluffyBunny]

As much as we may dislike particular species for whatever reasons, they often turn out to be quite important parts of our ecosystems. We'll miss them if they go.

Nonsense!

[jddj]

This is just parasitic occlupanids [horg.com] (of the phylum plasticae) competing for a foothold.

Pfft!

[douglasfir77]

Everyone knows birds are not real! Common folks! https://birdsarentreal.com/ [birdsarentreal.com] /s

Doctor Who Did It First

[galbreath]

When are the birds going to start attacking?

Plastics discovered in seabirds

[ZiggyZiggyZig]

Now, my dear ornithologists, if you do discover plastics in seabirds, be weary of this new disease!