Laboratory of Toxicology, Department of Environmental Veterinary Sciences, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Kita 18, Nishi 9, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0818, Japan.
Faculty of Fisheries, Hokkaido University, 3-1-1 Minato-cho, Hakodate, Hokkaido 041-8611, Japan.
Curr Biol. 2020 Feb 24;30(4):723-728.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.12.037. Epub 2020 Jan 30.
Plastic debris is ubiquitous and increasing in the marine environment [1]. A wide range of marine organisms ingest plastic, and its impacts are of growing concern [2]. Seabirds are particularly susceptible to plastic pollution because of high rates of ingestion [3]. Because marine plastics contain an array of hazardous compounds, the chemical impacts of ingestion are concerning. Several studies on wild seabirds suggested accumulation of plastic-derived chemicals in seabird tissues [4-7]. However, to date, the evidence has all been indirect [4-7], and it is unclear whether plastic debris is the source of these pollutants. To obtain direct evidence for the transfer and accumulation of plastic additives in the tissues of seabirds, we conducted an in vivo plastic feeding experiment. Environmentally relevant exposure of plastics compounded with one flame retardant and four ultraviolet stabilizers to streaked shearwater (Calonectris leucomelas) chicks in semi-field conditions resulted in the accumulation of the additives in liver and adipose fat of 91 to 120,000 times the rate from the natural diet. Additional monitoring of six seabird species detected these chemical additives only in those species with high plastic ingestion rates, suggesting that plastic debris can be a major pathway of chemical pollutants into seabirds. These findings provide direct evidence of seabird exposure to plastic additives and emphasize the role of marine debris ingestion as a source of chemical pollution in marine organisms.
塑料碎片在海洋环境中无处不在且不断增加[1]。大量海洋生物摄入了塑料，其影响受到越来越多的关注[2]。海鸟特别容易受到塑料污染的影响，因为它们摄入塑料的几率很高[3]。由于海洋中的塑料含有多种有害化合物，因此其摄入产生的化学影响令人担忧。几项关于野生海鸟的研究表明，海鸟组织中积累了源自塑料的化学物质[4-7]。然而，迄今为止，所有证据都是间接的[4-7]，并且尚不清楚塑料碎片是否是这些污染物的来源。为了获得海鸟组织中塑料添加剂转移和积累的直接证据，我们进行了一项体内塑料喂养实验。在半野外条件下，用一种阻燃剂和四种紫外线稳定剂复合的环境相关塑料对条纹燕鸥（Calonectris leucomelas）雏鸟进行暴露，结果导致添加剂在肝脏和脂肪组织中的积累速度达到了自然饮食的 91 至 120,000 倍。对六种海鸟物种的进一步监测仅在那些摄入塑料率高的物种中检测到这些化学添加剂，这表明塑料碎片可能是化学污染物进入海鸟的主要途径。这些发现提供了海鸟暴露于塑料添加剂的直接证据，并强调了海洋碎片摄入是海洋生物中化学污染的一个来源。
