The impact of plastic pollution on the fauna

From marine ecosystems to terrestrial habitats, the impact of plastic waste on animals is widespread and deeply worrying. One of the consequences of plastic pollution is its ingestion by wildlife. Animals often mistake plastic waste for food, most often leading to tragic ends.

Discarded fishing nets entangle countless creatures, strangling and drowning them and sometimes severing their limbs. Entangled animals also have trouble feeding and escaping predators and suffer injuries that can become lethally infected.

The latest research by scientists at the Natural History Museum in London has confirmed that the material causes a disease from which birds are beginning to die (Bond et al, 2023). The authors of the discovery called it plasticosis. Consumption of plastics, which are ubiquitous, leads to scarring and deformation of the tissue, resulting in constant inflammation. Experts say that this is the first confirmed case of a disease in wild animals that is caused by plastic. Scientists conducted bird studies on Australia’s Lord Howe Island for more than 10 years. During this decade, they noted that seabirds are extremely contaminated with plastic. The authors describe that the birds consume plastics floating on the surface of the water because they mistakenly think it is food. Furthermore, some individuals were grabbing plastic and then feeding it to their chicks.

As part of various social media campaigns, unpleasant and sometimes even drastic images regularly appear on social media, showing the effects of littering on the earth, seas and oceans. They allow everyone to see that the problem is not limited to plastic bottles.