![Flesh-footed shearwater necropsy with ingested plastic. Picture by Silke Stuckenbrock Flesh-footed shearwater necropsy with ingested plastic. Picture by Silke Stuckenbrock](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/194363481/2fe36379-d56f-4e4b-b5bc-69abd392585f.png/r67_0_1134_600_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A new study from Tasmanian seabird and marine plastics experts discovered the presence of a lethal plastic-induced disease in wild animals for the first time.
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Plasticosis - a term dubbed by researchers from marine plastic experts at Adrift Lab, is caused by plastics which act as a persistent inflammatory stimulus when ingested, causing permanent tissue damage.
The disease was found in flesh-footed shearwaters, a migratory bird that breeds mostly in colonies around Lord Howe Island and northern New Zealand, has been highly impacted by ingestion of plastic the birds find floating on the ocean surface.
Researcher at Adrift Lab, Hayley Charlton-Howard, said the plasticosis they saw was most likely to have a "sub-lethal" impact.
"It's a disease that will likely make the birds more susceptible to outside threats, making them slightly weaker and less likely to adapt to a changing environment," Ms Howard, a researcher at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania, said.
"We know plastic can cause all these visible obvious impacts, whereas plasticosis is one of those slow-burn diseases we've only just been made aware of."
In addition to causing scarring, the ingested plastic also damages vital digestive glands, which may mean the birds are unable to secrete necessary digestive fluids to break down and absorb nutrients.
She said at this stage, they were unsure whether the disease was treatable.
"We've only just found it and we don't know if birds that contract plasticosis are able to recover, if they're tissues can heal themselves, or if the scarring is permanent," Ms Howard said.
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![Examples of tubular gland shapes in Flesh-footed Shearwater samples from healthy, regularly shaped tubular glands to severely impacted tubular glands with a loss of
structure. Picture: Journal of Hazardous Materials Examples of tubular gland shapes in Flesh-footed Shearwater samples from healthy, regularly shaped tubular glands to severely impacted tubular glands with a loss of
structure. Picture: Journal of Hazardous Materials](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/184500760/ae70944b-72ba-4cd6-a379-dd14beedbc3a.jpg/r0_0_774_313_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Out of the 30 birds examined, most had at least three obvious examples of scar tissue formation with only a handful having no scarring present.
Ms Howard said it was likely other animals had the disease.
"Since over 1,200 marine species have been documented to ingest plastics, many species we're unaware of would likely be exhibiting some plastic related scarring," Ms Howard said.
Since the discovery of plastic in the ocean only half a century ago, an estimated 4.8 to 12.7 million metric tonnes of plastic have entered the ocean every year.
In a recent study from Adrift Lab, small fragments of plastics were even found embedded in tissues of seabirds.
"I suspect that even if other species don't exhibit the same severity of plasticosis, they will probably have undetected levels of plastic-induced scarring within their organs," Ms Howard said.
![Flesh-footed Shearwater. Picture by Jenn Lavers Flesh-footed Shearwater. Picture by Jenn Lavers](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/184500760/d8e79ef8-6ef9-4588-b53e-86a905dbd75a.jpg/r0_0_680_709_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
She said even if the bird wasn't dying through starvation, the lack of nutrients can lead it to becoming weak or malnourished, leaving it susceptible to predators or disease.
"It's death by a thousand cuts as all these little impacts build up over time and make the bird more susceptible," Ms Howard said.
She said they were still unsure as to why the birds were eating plastic.
"We suspect it's because plastic will mimic visual and olfactory cues that birds use to hunt," she said.
"It could also be because of changing environmental conditions and prey availability, so they're picking up whatever they can find and unfortunately plastic is really prevalent in the marine ecosystem."
She said in terms of the species future, more research needed to be conducted.
"In the meantime we need to keep trying to protect them as much as we can," Ms Howard said.
"We're looking at how scientist can better quantify and assess levels of plastic within the environment.
"Most of the plastic we think of is visible on the beach, but so much of it now is being broken down into tiny microscopic pieces that were previously undetected in wildlife."
"We hope with all our research we inspire people and potentially lawmakers to really take a look at the steps we can take to reduce our plastic waste and consumption to protect our environments for many years to come."