Oceanic plastic particle pollution: Suspected effect on fat deposition in red phalaropes

Connors, Peter G.; Smith, Kimberly G.

doi:10.1016/0025-326x(82)90490-8

Cited by 87 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The birds apparently starved due to a shortage of surface plankton, and some were observed feeding along the strand line where plastic pellets were abundant (Bond 1971). It was unclear whether this had contributed to the high incidence of plastic in these birds, but Connors and Smith (1982) found plastic in six of seven red phalaropes killed by colliding with powerlines on their northward migration in central California. Birds with large volumes of ingested plastic had smaller fat reserves, raising concerns that ingested plastic reduced digestive efficiency or meal size.…”

Section: Shifting Focus To the North Pacific Oceanmentioning

confidence: 98%

A Brief History of Marine Litter Research

Ryan

2015

Marine Anthropogenic Litter

206

153

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This chapter traces the history of marine litter research from anecdotal reports of entanglement and plastic ingestion in the 1960s to the current focus on microplastics and their role in the transfer of persistent organic pollutants to marine food webs. The reports in Science of large numbers of plastic pellets in the North Atlantic in the early 1970s stimulated research interest in plastic litter at sea, with papers reporting plastics on the seafloor and impacting a variety of marine animals. The focus then shifted to high concentrations of plastic litter in the North Pacific, where novel studies reported the dynamics of stranded beach litter, the factors influencing plastic ingestion by seabirds, and trends in fur seal entanglement. By the early 1980s, growing concern about the potential impacts of marine litter resulted in a series of meetings on marine debris. The first two international conferences held in Honolulu by the US National Marine Fisheries Service played a key role in setting the research agenda for the next decade. By the end of the 1980s, most impacts of marine litter were reasonably well understood, and attention shifted to seeking effective solutions to tackle the marine litter problem. Research was largely restricted to monitoring trends in litter to assess the effectiveness of mitigation measures, until the last decade, when concern about microplastics coupled with the discovery of alarming densities of small plastic particles in the North Pacific 'garbage patch' (and other mid-ocean gyres) stimulated the current wave of research.

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Section: Shifting Focus To the North Pacific Oceanmentioning

confidence: 98%

A Brief History of Marine Litter Research

Ryan

2015

Marine Anthropogenic Litter

206

153

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“…inverse relationship between fat deposition and amount of ingested plastics in seabirds (Connors & Smith 1982), might support a causative impact; however, an equally valid hypothesis is that ingestion of plastics is a consequence of animals with reduced fat reserves being malnourished and eating plastic, or that reduced fat reserves stem from an entirely different environmental stressor. Rochman et al (2016) conducted a critical and systematic review of published literature on the perceived, tested, and demonstrated impacts of anthropogenic debris (all materials in all environments) as a function of debris size and affected level of biological organization (i.e., assemblage, population, organism, and suborganism levels; note that the construct did not account for some behavioral or physiological responses, such as altered feeding, movement, or growth).…”

Section: Wwwannualreviewsorg • Plastics In the Marine Environment 215mentioning

confidence: 99%

Plastics in the Marine Environment

Law

2017

Annu. Rev. Mar. Sci.

760

345

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Plastics contamination in the marine environment was first reported nearly 50 years ago, less than two decades after the rise of commercial plastics production, when less than 50 million metric tons were produced per year. In 2014, global plastics production surpassed 300 million metric tons per year. Plastic debris has been detected worldwide in all major marine habitats, in sizes from microns to meters. In response, concerns about risks to marine wildlife upon exposure to the varied forms of plastic debris have increased, stimulating new research into the extent and consequences of plastics contamination in the marine environment. Here, I present a framework to evaluate the current understanding of the sources, distribution, fate, and impacts of marine plastics. Despite remaining knowledge gaps in mass budgeting and challenges in investigating ecological impacts, the increasing evidence of the ubiquity of plastics contamination in the marine environment, the continued rapid growth in plastics production, and the evidence-albeit limited-of demonstrated impacts to marine wildlife support immediate implementation of source-reducing measures to decrease the potential risks of plastics in the marine ecosystem.

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“…Furness (1983) suggested that seabirds were likely to be harmed by increased uptakes of PCBs adsorbed to plastic pellets. Bourne (1976) suggested that seabirds might develop blockages of the intestines or ulcers in the stomach, reducing the functional volume of the gizzard and leading to a reduction in digestive capability (Connors and Smith, 1982;Furness, 1985). Other effects may include diminished feeding stimulus, lowered steroid hormone levels and delayed reproduction (Azzarello and Van Vleet, 1987).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%