Evaluating exposure of northern fur seals, Callorhinus ursinus, to microplastic pollution through fecal analysis

Donohue, Mary J.; Masura, Julie; Gelatt, Thomas S.; Ream, Rolf R.; Baker, Jason D.; Faulhaber, Kayleigh; Lerner, Darren T.

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.11.036

Cited by 71 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…Another way that microplastics might move around the environment is through animal transport. Recent studies have shown that some animals are excreting microplastic particles in their faeces, including birds (Gil-Delgado et al, 2017;Provencher et al, 2018) and seals (Donohue et al, 2019;Eriksson and Burton, 2003;McMahon et al, 1999;Nelms et al, 2018).…”

Section: Animal Transportmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gil-Delgado et al, 2017) and seal scats (e.g. Donohue et al, 2019), the counts of microplastics are typically low and these animals do not usually remain in largely populated groups. As such, these animals may not be a notable source of microplastic pollution in the environment.…”

Section: Animal Transportmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fewer studies exist for plastic ingestion by animals in the Arctic, however, with the growing recognition that plastic pollution in the Arctic is likely to increase (Cózar et al, 2017), assessing the interaction Arctic animals have with plastic pollution is becoming an important area of inquiry. Studies investigating the effects of and ingestion frequencies of plastic pollution by animals in the Arctic have been largely dominated by seabird studies (Provencher et al, 2017), however, other Arctic animals have been examined such as fishes (Bråte et al, 2016;Kühn et al, 2018;Morgana et al, 2018;Nielsen et al, 2014), whales (Moore et al, 2020) and seals (Donohue et al, 2019).…”

Section: Ingestionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, the ingestion of plastic pollution has been documented around the world for some marine mammals including pinnipeds (Bravo Rebolledo et al, 2013;Denuncio et al, 2017;Donohue et al, 2019;McMahon et al, 1999;Nelms et al, 2019Nelms et al, , 2018Unger et al, 2017), cetaceans (Lusher et al, 2018;Nelms et al, 2019;Panti et al, 2019;van Franeker et al, 2018), and sirenians (Attademo et al, 2015;Beck and Barros, 1991). Most studies for ingested plastic pollution in marine mammals tend to focus on macro-and/or microplastics in the gastrointestinal tracts (GITs; either entire GIT or occasionally only a section; e.g.…”

Section: Ingestion Of Plastic Pollution By Marine Mammalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Denuncio et al, 2017;Nelms et al, 2019;Unger et al, 2017), however, some look at egested microplastics in scat samples (e.g. Donohue et al, 2019;Eriksson and Burton, 2003;Nelms et al, 2018), or a combination of GIT and scat (e.g. Bravo Rebolledo et al, 2013;Moore et al, 2020).…”

Section: Ingestion Of Plastic Pollution By Marine Mammalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plastic ingestion, retention, and transport in animals from the eastern Canadian Arctic

Bourdages¹

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Section: Animal Transportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Animal Transportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ingestionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ingestion Of Plastic Pollution By Marine Mammalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ingestion Of Plastic Pollution By Marine Mammalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plastic ingestion, retention, and transport in animals from the eastern Canadian Arctic

Bourdages¹

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Microplastics Contamination in Receiving Water Systems

Junaid¹,

Wang²

2022

Microplastics in Urban Water Management

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What is known and unknown about the effects of plastic pollution: A meta‐analysis and systematic review

Bucci

Túlio

Rochman

2020

Ecological Applications

459

263

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As a consequence of the global ubiquity of plastic pollution, scientists, decision‐makers, and the public often ask whether macroplastics (>5 mm) and microplastics (<5 mm) have a realized ecological threat. In 2016, we conducted a systematic review of the literature and made a call for further research testing hypotheses about ecological effects. In the subsequent years, the amount of relevant research has risen tremendously. Here, we reassess the literature to determine the current weight of evidence about the effects of plastic pollution across all levels of biological organization. Our data spans marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments. We extracted data from 139 lab and field studies testing 577 independent effects across a variety of taxa and with various types, sizes, and shapes of plastic. Overall, 59% of the tested effects were detected. Of these, 58% were due to microplastics and 42% were due to macroplastics. Of the effects that were not detected, 94% were from microplastics and 6% were from macroplastics. We found evidence that whether or not an effect is detected, as well as the severity and direction of the effect, is driven by dose, particle shape, polymer type, and particle size. Based on our analyses, there is no doubt that macroplastics are causing ecological effects, however, the effects of microplastics are much more complex. We also assessed the environmental relevancy of experimental studies by comparing the doses used in each exposure to the concentrations and sizes of microplastics found in the environment. We determined that only 17% of the concentrations used in experimental studies have been found in nature, and that 80% of particle sizes used in experiments fall below the size range of the majority of environmental sampling. Based on our systematic review and meta‐analysis, we make a call for future work that recognizes the complexity of microplastics and designs tests to better understand how different types, sizes, shapes, doses, and exposure durations affect wildlife. We also call for more ecologically and environmentally relevant studies, particularly in freshwater and terrestrial environments.

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Evaluating exposure of northern fur seals, Callorhinus ursinus, to microplastic pollution through fecal analysis

Cited by 71 publications

References 75 publications

Plastic ingestion, retention, and transport in animals from the eastern Canadian Arctic

Plastic ingestion, retention, and transport in animals from the eastern Canadian Arctic

Microplastics Contamination in Receiving Water Systems

What is known and unknown about the effects of plastic pollution: A meta‐analysis and systematic review

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