Animal Digestible Food Packaging Initiative

The abstract of a January 15, 2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials article https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304389422019112 by researchers with Australia University of Tasmania and UK The Natural History Museum report “… We investigated the presence and impact of microplastics in multiple tissues from Flesh-footed Shearwaters Ardenna carneipes, a species that ingests considerable quantities of plastics, and used histopathological techniques to measure physiological responses and inflammation from the plastics. All organs examined (kidney, spleen, proventriculus) had embedded microplastic particles and this correlated with macroplastic exposure. Considerable tissue damage was recorded, including a significant reduction in tubular glands and rugae in the proventriculus, and evidence of inflammation, fibrosis, and loss of organ structures in the kidney and spleen. This indicates macroplastics can induce damage directly at the site of exposure, while microplastics can be mobilised throughout the body causing widespread pathology. Collectively, these results indicate the scope and severity of the health impacts of plastic pollution may be grossly underestimated …” #MicroPlastics #PlasticWaste #SingleUsePlastic @UTAS_