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Junk food: Polymer composition of macroplastic marine debris ingested by green and loggerhead sea turtles from the Gulf of Oman.
Summary
Researchers analyzed the polymer composition of macroplastic debris found in the stomachs of green sea turtles. Flexible packaging films and monofilament fishing line were among the most commonly ingested items, with polyethylene and polypropylene being the dominant polymers. The study provides specific data on the types of plastic products most hazardous to sea turtles and could inform targeted reduction efforts.
Pollution of the marine environment by plastic marine debris has become one of the most pervasive threats impacting marine environments. In this study, for the first time, we evaluate the polymer types of the plastic marine debris ingested by 49 green and 14 loggerhead sea turtle strandings in the Gulf of Oman. Plastic marine debris was ingested by 73.5% of green and 42.9% of loggerhead sea turtles in this study. Overall, evidence suggested that green sea turtles from the Gulf of Oman coast of the United Arab Emirates ingested high levels of plastic marine debris, predominantly Polypropylene (PP) & Polyethylene (PE), followed by Nylon, PP-PE mixture, Polystyrene (PS), Poly vinyl chloride (PVC) and Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), respectively. Loggerhead sea turtles also ingested high levels of plastic marine debris, which also predominantly consisted of PP & PE, followed by PP-PE mixture, Nylon and PS. While recent studies were directed into polymer characterization of micro-plastics in aquatic life, our study focuses on macro-plastics which impose significantly greater risks.