Scientists using fishing nets dragged the lower reaches of sections of the Thames and pulled up over 8 thousand pieces of plastic rubbish.

Scientists using fishing nets dragged sections of the upper Thames estuary and pulled up over 8 thousand pieces of plastic rubbish.

20 percent of the refuse was of a sanitary product nature. Other common pieces of waste were cigarette containers, food wrappers, and cups.

The team, which was comprised of members from the Natural History Museum and Royal Holloway, University of London, issued a report warning of the sea life damage all that trash could cause.

In immediate danger are the species living in the river, but those that dwell just outside of its outlets into the sea are also at risk.

Birds are also in the crosshairs of the health threats caused by the plastics, as catching and consuming fish that have ingested the rubbish can harm them as well.

The scientists pointed out that what they found is just a small sampling of what lies in the river.

Said the co-author, “This underwater litter must be taken into account when predicting the amount of pollution entering our rivers and seas, not just those items that we can see at the surface and washed up on shore.”