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ABC News
ABC News
National

Adrift Lab classifies new disease caused by plastic ingestion by Lord Howe Island seabirds

Tissue affected by plasticosis on the left, compared to healthy tissue on the right. (Supplied: Hayley Charlton-Howard)

A previously unknown disease in seabirds caused by the ingestion of plastic has been found on Lord Howe Island by scientists from the United Kingdom and Australia.

Named plasticosis, the newly classified disease is caused by plastic that repeatedly injures soft tissue and leads to the formation of extensive scar tissue in a bird's stomach.

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