Unalaska, AK   -  Since 2009, biologists have been collecting sea birds along the Aleutian chain.  What began as a study to look at food webs, became an investigation into what happens when seabirds ingest plastic marine debris.

University of Alaska PhD student Veronica Padula delivered a presentation on her research to an audience in Unalaska Monday night.  She said eight million tons of plastic enter the ocean annually worldwide and it doesn’t break down or biodegrade.

 “It’s just going to erode into smaller pieces of plastic, but the plastic is always going to be there,” she said

Padula’s research looked at what birds like Red-faced cormorant, the Common murre, various gulls, puffins and fulmars were eating. But she also dug deeper to look for something called phthalates.

“So phthalates are coated on top of the plastic matrix to add specific properties to the plastic, so it will make it more durable, flexible, add clarity," explained Padula. "Anything you want it to do, you can pick the kind of phthalate you want to use.“

According to Padula, there are 25 different kinds of phthalates.  The lab where her samples were tested can detect six of them.

“Every bird, all 42 [tested] had some sort of phthalate in its muscle tissue.”

 She said phtalates leach off plastics and can be absorbed into birds’ muscle tissue.

Some studies show phthalates can mimic hormones and act as endocrine disruptors. In birds and other animals that can affect fertility and cause diseases like cancer.

Padula saw that birds were eating plastics directly.  But they were also eating fish that ingested small pieces of plastic as well.

Padula has also found phthaltes in the embryonic tissues of unborn seabirds, indicating that exposure can happen even if animals are not ingesting plastics directly.