Overview of global status of plastic presence in marine vertebrates

© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Global change biology. - 1999. - 27(2021), 4 vom: 28. Feb., Seite 728-737
1. Verfasser: López-Martínez, Sergio (VerfasserIn)
Weitere Verfasser: Morales-Caselles, Carmen, Kadar, Julianna, Rivas, Marga L
Format: Online-Aufsatz
Sprache:English
Veröffentlicht: 2021
Zugriff auf das übergeordnete Werk:Global change biology
Schlagworte:Journal Article Review apical consumers global change macroplastic marine conservation microplastic predators Plastics Water Pollutants, Chemical
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
The presence of plastic in the environment is generating impacts on all habitats and has become a major global problem in marine megafauna. Macroplastics can cause entanglement, ingestion and loss of suitable habitats. In addition to entanglement problems, there is evidence that plastics are entering the food web through ingestion by marine organisms, which could ultimately be affecting humans. Much of the available information on the impact of plastic in biota is scattered and disconnected due to the use of different methodologies. Here, we review the variety of approaches and protocols followed to assess macro- and microplastic ingestion in marine vertebrates such as sea turtles, cetaceans and fishes in order to offer a global overview of their current status. The analysis of 112 studies indicates the highest plastic ingestion in organisms collected in the Mediterranean and Northeast Indian Ocean with significant differences among plastic types ingested by different groups of animals, including differences in colour and the type of prevalent polymers. In sea turtles, the most prevalent types of plastics are white plastics (66.60%), fibres (54.54%) and LDPE polymer (39.09%); in cetaceans, white macro- and microplastics (38.31%), fibres (79.95%) and PA polymer (49.60%); and in fishes, transparent plastics (45.97%), fibres (66.71%) and polyester polymer (36.20%). Overall, clear fibre microplastics are likely the most predominant types ingested by marine megafauna around the globe
Beschreibung:Date Completed 21.04.2021
Date Revised 21.04.2021
published: Print-Electronic
Citation Status MEDLINE
ISSN:1365-2486
DOI:10.1111/gcb.15416