A recent study indicates that plastic ingestion severely affects seabird chicks, revealing brain damage similar to Alzheimer's disease. Researchers from the University of Tasmania examined sable shearwater chicks, which are often inadvertently fed plastic waste by their parents. Despite appearing healthy, the chicks exhibited severe health problems, including neurodegeneration and damage to vital organs. The study emphasizes the hidden effects of plastic pollution on marine wildlife, suggesting that even chicks that look fine may be suffering long-term health consequences due to their plastic consumption.
We've known about it since the 1960s, but a lot of plastic research focuses on the birds that are really emaciated... We wanted to understand the condition of birds that have consumed plastic but look visibly healthy.
[In blood tests], we found patterns of the proteins that were very similar to those in people that have Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. It's almost equivalent to a small child having Alzheimer's.
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