Plastic peril for birds already on danger list

AN INVISIBLE cocktail of chemicals leaching from plastics could be threatening the long-term survival of birds in the wild, an expert has warned.

- Tony Whitfield

Manufacturers add the toxins to help plastic function better. They include flame retardants, UV filters, colourants and phthalates, which keep it flexible.

But the danger these pose to wildlife has been dubbed a "veiled pandemic" by scientists because, unlike other plastic litter that creatures can get entangled in or swallow, it can't be seen.

Prof Jon Blount, from Exeter University's Centre for Ecology and Conservation, has been studying eggs of Cornish herring gulls - an endangered species on the UK's "red list".

He found phthalates in each of the 13 he eggs examined - at levels of up to 282% the safe limit for humans.