© Veronica PadulaA red-faced cormorant on its nest on St. Paul Island in summer 2015.
A nearly decade-long University of Alaska project to monitor the ecology of puffins, crested auklets and other seabirds that flock to the storm-tossed Aleutian Islands has produced crucial baseline information about microplastics contamination in marine waters off Alaska.
Of more than 200 Aleutian birds initially examined, nearly 1 in 5 turned out to have some type of organic materials in their stomachs, researchers found.
Further investigation revealed that plastic contamination goes well beyond items in birds' guts.
Nearly all of the birds subsequently examined tested positive for at least one type of phthalate in their muscle tissue, said Veronica Padula, a PhD candidate focusing on plastics contamination. There are many types of phthalates, but Padula tested the birds for the six that are considered high priorities by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Comment: See also this report from the state of Maharashtra: Unusual hailstorm kills 2 and damages crops in India