Study: Plastic Pollution Producing Brain Damage In Seabird Chicks Similar To Alzheimer's

[hatrack]

Ingesting plastic is leaving seabird chicks with brain damage “akin to Alzheimer’s disease”, according to a new study – adding to growing evidence of the devastating impact of plastic pollution on marine wildlife.

Analysis of young sable shearwaters, a migratory bird that travels between Australia’s Lord Howe Island and Japan, has found that plastic waste is causing damage to seabird chicks not apparent to the naked eye, including decay of the stomach lining, cell rupture and neurodegeneration.

Dozens of the chicks – which spend 90 days in burrows before making their first journey – were examined by researchers from the University of Tasmania. Many had mistakenly been fed plastic waste by their parents and built up high levels of plastic in their stomachs. Blood tests indicated that the plastic pollution had left the chicks with severe health issues, disrupting the stomach, liver, kidneys and brain, according to the study published in the journal Science Advances.

“Plastic ingestion in seabirds is nothing new. We’ve known about it since the 1960s, but a lot of plastic research focuses on the birds that are really emaciated: they’re starving, they’re washing up on beaches and not doing too well. We wanted to understand the condition of birds that have consumed plastic but look visibly healthy,” said Alix de Jersey, a PhD student from the University of Tasmania’s School of Medicine, who led the study.

EDIT

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/12/plastic-pollution-leaves-seabirds-chicks-with-brain-damage-similar-to-alzheimers-study-aoe

[BootinUp]

1. Just stating the obvious. If their digestive tract is not well

then the health of other organs would be affected. But the headline title is misleading.

[Native]

2. So, when they find out that the nano and micro plastics in our brains are causing similar outcomes for us, do you think

that will finally be enough for the powers that be to put a halt to plastic pollution and the use of plastic disposables?

[hatrack]

4. Never going to happen . . .

Convenience!!! Waaaaahhhh!!!! Profits!! Waaaaaaaaaahhh!!!

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. No great surprise

An association between microplastics in the brain and dementia in humans has already been documented.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-024-03453-1

Published: 03 February 2025

Bioaccumulation of microplastics in decedent human brains
…
Abstract
Rising global concentrations of environmental microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) drive concerns for human exposure and health outcomes. Complementary methods for the robust detection of tissue MNPs, including pyrolysis gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, attenuated total reflectance–Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy, confirm the presence of MNPs in human kidney, liver and brain. MNPs in these organs primarily consist of polyethylene, with lesser but significant concentrations of other polymers. Brain tissues harbor higher proportions of polyethylene compared to the composition of the plastics in liver or kidney, and electron microscopy verified the nature of the isolated brain MNPs, which present largely as nanoscale shard-like fragments. Plastic concentrations in these decedent tissues were not influenced by age, sex, race/ethnicity or cause of death; the time of death (2016 versus 2024) was a significant factor, with increasing MNP concentrations over time in both liver and brain samples (P = 0.01). Finally, even greater accumulation of MNPs was observed in a cohort of decedent brains with documented dementia diagnosis, with notable deposition in cerebrovascular walls and immune cells. These results highlight a critical need to better understand the routes of exposure, uptake and clearance pathways and potential health consequences of plastics in human tissues, particularly in the brain.

…

BTW: The largest source of microplastics is microfibers, and the biggest source of microfibers is… synthetic fabrics.