Scientists find plastics in Arctic seabird eggs

Plastic contaminants have been found inside seabird eggs in the high Arctic, one of the planet’s most remote habitats.

The pollutants included a compound known as a phthalate that can interfere with sex hormones and has been linked to deformities. It was found for the first time in a yolk sac, the food source of the developing chick.

Phthalates are added to plastics to make them flexible. They were detected in the egg of a northern fulmar in Lancaster Sound, a region of the Canadian Arctic. The chemicals are known to be ‘‘endocrine disruptors’’ – substances that are feared to interfere with reproduction, growth and development by disrupting the hormone systems of a wide range of species.

‘‘If that egg has chemicals in its yolk sac, that bird is then from the very beginning of its development feeding on those contaminants,’’ Dr Jennifer Provencher, of the Canadian Wildlife Service, who took part in the research, said.

The findings were presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington. The scientists also found that eggs of northern fulmars and black-legged kittiwakes contained two chemicals used to prevent plastics from degrading and to stop them being discoloured by sunlight.

Scientists have described those compounds as ‘‘contaminants of emerging environmental concern’’. There are fears that they damage the hormonal systems of marine life.

‘‘It’s another example of the often invisible impacts that plastics can have on wildlife,’’ Alex Bond, of the Natural History Museum in London, said.

‘‘It may not be enough to result in mortality, but it’s certainly not a positive thing, and combined with the pressures from other contaminants, from plastics and from the birds’ prey, contributes to the increased threats that many of the world’s seabirds are facing.’’