In this review we report new findings concerning interaction between marine debris and wildlife. Deleterious effects and consequences of entanglement, consumption and smothering are highlighted and discussed. The number of species known to have been affected by either entanglement or ingestion of plastic debris has doubled since 1997, from 267 to 557 species among all groups of wildlife. For marine turtles the number of affected species increased from 86 to 100 % (now 7 of 7 species), for marine mammals from 43 to 66 % (now 81 of 123 species) and for seabirds from 44 to 50 % of species (now 203 of 406 species). Strong increases in records were also listed for fish and invertebrates, groups that were previously not considered in detail. In future records of interactions between marine debris and wildlife we recommend to focus on standardized data on frequency of occurrence and quantities of debris ingested. In combination with dedicated impact studies in the wild or experiments, this will allow more detailed assessments of the deleterious effects of marine debris on individuals and populations. Kühn, . Deleterious effects of litter on marine life. pp M., Gutow, L., and Klages, M. (eds). Marine Anthropogenic Litter. Springer, Berlin. including Supplementary material 76 S. Kühn et al. Keywords IntroductionFor several decades, it has been known that anthropogenic debris in the marine environment, in particular plastic, affects marine organisms (Shomura and Yoshida 1985;Derraik 2002;. Plastic production grows at 5 % per year (Andrady and Neal 2009). Part of the material ends up as litter in the marine environment, to such an extent that the issue is considered to be of major global concern (UNEP 2011). Awareness has grown that plastics may become less visible but do not really disappear as they become fragmented into small persistent particles ('plastic soup') (Andrady 2015). Plastic fragmentation can be caused by abiotic factors (Andrady 2011) or through animal digestion processes ). The smaller the particle, the higher the availability to animals at the base of the food chain. The potential deleterious effects from ingestion, have heightened the urgency to evaluate the impact of plastics on the whole marine food chain and, ultimately, the consequences for humans as end consumers (Koch and Calafat 2009; UNEP 2011;Galloway 2015).The most visible effect of plastic pollution on marine organisms concerns wildlife entanglement in marine debris, often in discarded or lost fishing gear and ropes Baulch and Perry 2014). Entangled biota are hindered in their ability to move, feed and breathe. In addition, many marine organisms mistake litter for food and ingest it . Indigestible debris such as plastics may accumulate in their stomachs and affect individual fitness, with consequences for reproduction and survival, even if not causing direct mortality McCauley and Bjorndal 1999). Marine birds, turtles and mammals have received most attention, but the consequences of entanglement and ingestion on other organism grou...

Plastic pollution has become one of the largest environmental challenges we currently face, but standardized reporting is required to meet critical research needs.

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In studies of plastic ingestion by marine wildlife, visual separation of plastic particles from gastrointestinal tracts or their dietary content can be challenging. Earlier studies have used solutions to dissolve organic materials leaving synthetic particles unaffected. However, insufficient tests have been conducted to ensure that different categories of consumer products partly degraded in the environment and/or in gastrointestinal tracts were not affected. In this study 63 synthetic materials and 11 other dietary items and non-plastic marine debris were tested. Irrespective of shape or preceding environmental history, most polymers resisted potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution, with the exceptions of cellulose acetate from cigarette filters, some biodegradable plastics and a single polyethylene sheet. Exposure of hard diet components and other marine debris showed variable results. In conclusion, the results confirm that usage of KOH solutions can be a useful approach in general quantitative studies of plastic ingestion by marine wildlife.