New Disease from Plastic Pollution Found in Seabirds

Plastic pollution is one of the biggest threats to birds and to our environment.

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Plastic Pollution Is So Bad It's Caused a New Disease in Seabirds

Even on a remote island surrounded by an Australian Marine Park, Flesh-footed Shearwaters ingest so much plastic that scientists coined a new term to describe the resulting disease: plasticosis. It's estimated that eight million tons of plastic are dumped into the ocean every year, and despite its lack of flavor or nutritional content, many seabirds confuse this plastic with food. The birds aren't dying directly from plasticosis, but the disease affects their growth, nutrition, and overall health. Dozens of seabird species are known to consume plastic, and researchers expect that tally to climb. Read on for more on this new disease and how plastic pollution affects birds' bodies.

Learn More

While completely cutting plastic from our lives is impossible at this point, reducing your plastic use is surprisingly easy and pain-free. You're not going to end the problem overnight, but here are some simple tricks to waste less.

Flesh-footed Shearwater. Photo: Ed Dunens/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

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