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Plastic is causing seabirds to fall sick.

A shocking discovery published on Mar. 3 in the Journal of Hazardous Materials spotlighted a new disease, solely caused by plastic, which affects seabirds.

It's called "plasticosis".

Plasticosis

According to the scientists, this is the first record of seabird stomach tissue damage or scarring caused by plastic.

This is also the first study to document and quantify the tissue damage caused by plastic on wild animals.

The scarring was found to be widespread amongst birds of all ages, proving how rampant plastic pollution has become.

The study states that young birds were likely affected after being fed food contaminated with plastic waste by their parents.

How the study was conducted and its findings

21 freshly deceased Flesh-footed shearwaters from Australia's Lord Howe Island were studied.

The scientist found that "scar tissue formation was clear and evident in nearly all samples that were assessed".

There is also a "significant linear association" between the amount of plastic consumed and the stomach scarring a bird had, meaning that the more plastic ingested, the more scarring occured.

The tissue damage around the bird's stomach can make it more vulnerable to infections and parasites.

In addition, it would affect their ability to digest food and absorb vitamins.

Adult birds may be aware that they have ingested plastic waste and in response, they consume more pumice -- a type of rock which could help with digestion -- to grind larger plastic waste into smaller pieces for excretion.

For younglings, the plastic waste may reduce their ability to take in pumice.

Furthermore, pumice may make things worse for the birds as the smaller pieces of plastic may get into the bloodstream or be embedded within the tissues.

Micro- or nano-plastics embedded in the stomach tissues, which are hard to detect, can cause inflammation and scarring in multiple organs, the study warned.

Significance of the study

Prior to this study, there were studies conducted in controlled, laboratory condition on the impact of plastic ingestion on animals.

"Plastic-induced fibrosis is a relatively recent discovery, with only a handful of studies being published within the last two years, and it has not been formally classified. However, it is important to note that this ‘plasticosis’ is not limited to controlled, laboratory studies where plastic ingestion was deliberate and forced; our study demonstrates the capacity of plastic to cause severe pathology in free-living organisms foraging naturally."

However, this study showed that plastic ingested by wild animals can induce severe, organ-wide scar tissue formation, which affects their health and survival, even though the investigation was carried out on one species of seabirds.

Abrasive, natural materials like pumice do not result in such health impacts on the birds.

The scientists recommend studies to be done in some areas:

1. Whether plasticosis is observed in other species of wildlife,
2. Whether substantial scarring found in the young can be resolved naturally as they mature into adults,
3. If plastic-induced scarring is affecting other organs.

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Top image from eBird and Canva