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Presence of microplastics and endocrine-disrupting chemicals on subantarctic seabirds
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Researchers detected microplastics and endocrine-disrupting chemicals in subantarctic seabirds, finding contamination in species nesting in remote locations far from direct pollution sources. The findings indicate that ocean currents and atmospheric transport deliver contaminants to even the most isolated seabird colonies.
Despite the remoteness of their breeding sites, Antarctic and subantarctic seabirds are susceptible to chemical stressors and anthropogenic pollutants that are released from ships and research stations, arrive in ocean currents, are transported in the atmosphere, or are ingested when the birds feed north of the Antarctic Polar Front closer to human settlements and industry. The pollutants include microplastics, which after ingestion may release endocrine-disrupting chemicals that were added during manufacture or adsorbed from surrounding seawater. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and methoxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (MeO-PBDEs) have the potential to bioaccumulate with known toxic effects. We analysed the presence of microplastics and levels of PBDEs and MeO-PBDEs in seven seabirds that breed at South Georgia: Diomedea exulans, Thalassarche melanophris, Thalassarche chrysostoma, Procellaria aequinoctialis, Pelecanoides urinatrix, Pachyptila desolata and Stercorarius antarcticus). We observed the presence of plastic fibres and fragments in the guts, which were chemically identified via μ -FTIR. PBDEs (e.g. BDE47, BDE154, BDE153) and MeO-PBDEs (e.g. 6M47, 5'M99) were observed in the liver and muscle samples analysed via GC-MS/MS. Results are discussed in terms of diets and distribution of each species, as the prey range from zooplankton to squid, fish, and at-sea distributions from subtropical waters to the ice edge during the breeding or nonbreeding seasons. Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/559484/document
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Presence of microplastics and endocrine-disrupting chemicals on subantarctic seabirds
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Researchers detected microplastics and endocrine-disrupting chemicals in subantarctic seabirds from remote breeding sites, finding contamination despite geographic isolation from direct pollution sources. The results confirm that oceanic and atmospheric transport pathways carry contaminants to even the most protected seabird habitats.
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Researchers found microplastics in 97% of seabirds sampled at South Georgia's subantarctic islands, averaging nearly 17 particles per individual, and also detected brominated flame retardants in liver tissues — evidence that even remote wildlife breeding far from industrial centers is exposed to both plastic debris and plastic-associated chemical contaminants.
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