Piece-by-piece analysis of additives and manufacturing byproducts in plastics ingested by seabirds: Implication for risk of exposure to seabirds

• Published in: Marine Pollution Bulletin
• Main Authors: Tanaka, Kosuke, van Franeker, Jan A., Deguchi, Tomohiro, Takada, Hideshige
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Additive chemicals; Flame retardans; Styrene oligomers; UV stabilizers; marine lastic debris; plastic ingestion; Faroe Islands
• Online Access: https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/piece-by-piece-analysis-of-additives-and-manufacturing-byproducts; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.05.028

The risk of marine organisms ingesting plastics has become a growing concern due to hazard chemicals in plastics. To identify compounds to which seabirds potentially have substantial exposure, 194 plastics fragments and pellets ingested by seabirds, i.e., northern fulmars from the Faroe Islands, and laysan albatross and blackfooted albatross from Mukojima Island, were analyzed piece by piece. Four kinds of UV stabilizers, 2 brominated flame retardants, and styrene oligomers were detected at detection frequencies of 4.6%, 2.1%, and 2.1%, respectively. Concentrations ranging from not detected (n.d.) – 1700 μg/g were measured for UV stabilizers, n.d. – 1100 μg/g for flame retardants, and n.d. – 3200 μg/g for styrene oligomers. We found that these chemicals couldbe retained in plastics during drifting and fragmentation in the ocean and transported to seabirds. This type of transport via plastics can be direct pathway that introduces hazardous compounds to marine organisms.