The scientific journal Science of the Total Environment has published the results of a team led by Dr Krzysztof Deoniziak from the Faculty of Biology at the University of Białystok (UwB), who studied the occurrence of microplastics in the digestive tracts of two bird species: the blackbird and the song thrush.

The results showed that all of the 16 blackbirds and 18 song thrushes had microplastics in their digestive tracts. The researchers observed a total of 1,073 microplastics, consisting mainly of fibres less than 1 mm in size.

“Currently produced plastics do not biodegrade within a reasonable time under natural conditions. Instead, they break down and degrade into microscopic particles referred to as microplastics (smaller than 5 mm in one dimension) and further into nanoplastics (smaller than 0.1 μm). These particles gradually accumulate in the environment and pose a problem for the organisms living in it, from plants and small invertebrates to us, humans”, explains Dr Krzysztof Deoniziak.

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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969722057205?via%3Dihub