It appeared as an environmentalist’s dream: a non-chemical, i.e. The overwhelming percentage of debris collected was plastics and smoking paraphernalia. Mouth of the Los Angeles River, Long Beach, California. Therefore, to protect Nature, i.e. Yet some others large garbage patches are highly expected to be discovered elsewhere, as we’ll see further. The Yamuna River, which flows 855 miles from the Himalayas into the Ganges, is one of India’s most, but not only, polluted river. Furthermore, in some areas where marine debris concentrates so does marine life, such as in the STCZ. Undeniably a culture of behavioural changes, now in its infancy, need to further blossom and be implemented/prompted at all levels: individual, associative, governmental, legislative, industrial, technological, educational, philosophical, national, and international. In essence, humans are eating their own waste…” (Dixit Renee Brown, WiredPress).”. The fracking boom is producing a plastic boom. Marine debris is definitely characterized as human-created waste that has deliberately or accidentally become afloat. The study presents an alarming fact: these tons of plastic waste reputed to be virtually indestructible, do decompose with surprising speed, at much lower temperature than previously thought possible, and release toxic substances into the seawater, namely bisphenol A (BPA) and PS oligomer. In 2025, the annual input is estimated to be about twice greater, or 10 bags full of plastic per foot of coastline. They are often known by trademark names, as Bakelite, Vinylite, or Lucite. The ducks (with a distinctive logo on their base) have been sighted in the Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans (Ebbesmeyer, 2003). But while some cannot be seen, those pieces are still there and are still plastic. fully organic, low cost and nontoxic method for degrading plastic. SAS also released a covert film documenting mermaid’s tears in the storm drains of plastic factories in the southwest, highlighting the route from factory to beach. In addition, most of these plastic waste items are highly buoyant, allowing them to travel in currents for thousands of miles, endangering marine ecosystems and wildlife along the way. Stomachs so packed with plastics reduce the urge to eat, causing starvation. National Geographic is committed to reducing plastics pollution. PCBs can lead to reproductive disorders, death, an increased risk of disease, and an alteration of hormone levels (Ryan et al., 1988;Lee et al, 2001). Obviously, ocean current patterns, climate and tides, and proximity to urban centers, industrial and recreational areas, shipping lanes, and commercial fishing grounds influence the types and amount of debris that is found in the open ocean or collected along beaches, coasts and waterways, above and below the water’s edge. Plastic pollution can be found in even the most remote areas of the planet, a plastic bag was even found in the Mariana Trench at a depth of 10,000m! SAS has already signed up Contico, one of the southwest’s largest plastic factories, to pilot some of the improvements within OCS. Together they provide their expertise to other industrial sectors and political groups in order to promote recycling. The most recent review of all evidence concludes that exposure to DDT before puberty increases the risk of breast cancer. Since its commercial development in the 1950s, plastic has been a real success. The ultimate symbol of our throwaway lifestyle is the plastic bag: 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags is the number consumed annually, which is about a million a minute. The rest floats in open seas, often ending up in gyres, circular motion of currents, forming conglomerations of swirling plastic trash called garbage patches, or ultimately ending up washed ashore on someone’s beach. This latest study clearly shows new micro-pollution by compounds generated by plastic decomposition to be taking place out of sight in the ocean, leaching toxic chemicals such as Bisphenol A (BPA) and derivatives of polystyrene. The Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch floats between Japan and Hawaii; the Western Patch floats between Hawaii and California. Plastic is generally a durable material. Note: This article was first written and published in November 2009, and last updated in September 2019. In Europe, DEHP has been banned since 1999 from use in plastic toys for children under the age of three. Because plastic is a combination of elements extracted from crude oil then re-mixed up by men in white coats. Here are 4 main ways that plastic causes air pollution 1. The recycling industry might eventually be a path leading to considerable opportunities and solutions. This past August a different study, from a group of oceanography students from Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), UCSD, accompanied by the international organization Project Kaisei’s team, embarked on two vessels, New Horizon and Kaisei, through the North Pacific Ocean to sample plastic debris and garbage. It is estimated that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish, that is a terrifying thought! According to the Biodegradable Plastics Society (2005), when such plastics are composted they break down to carbon dioxide and water. Some of the plastic litter is decades old. Massive influxes of tourists, often to a relatively small area, have a huge impact, adding to the pollution of the local population, putting local infrastructure and habitats under enormous pressure. New research shows that larval fish are eating nanofibers in the first days of life, raising new questions about the effects of plastics on fish populations. The head of the Maritime and Coastal Resources Studies, Tridoyo Kusumastanto, said that both individual and industrial dumpers should learn from scavengers who take solid waste out instead of dumping it into rivers, canals and the sea. Among the actions the coalition advocates for are a moratorium on new plastic production facilities, using federal purchasing power to curb single-use plastics, tightening regulation of the petrochemical industry, ending fossil fuel subsidies and protecting environmental justice communities from pollution. It has been strongly linked to asthma and allergies in children. All plant-based, animal-based, or natural mineral-based substances will over time biodegrade. Plastic Pollution Causes, Facts & Figures . All this land-based debris blows, washes, or is discharged into the water from land areas after people engaged in beach-going activities have discarded it. The area is filled with tiny phytoplankton, but few big fish or mammals, thus fishermen and sailors rarely travel through it. He estimates that there are 100,000 particles of plastic per sq km of seabed and 300,000 items of plastic per sq km of sea surface. Katsuhiko Saido, Ph.D said, “We found that plastic in the ocean actually decomposes (…) giving rise to yet another source of global contamination that will continue into the future.” Furthermore, as Saido added: “We are concerned that plastic pollution is also caused by these invisible materials and that it will harm marine life.” While the potential toxicity of these tiny plastic constituents is still understudied for much of marine life, plastics are abundant in many forms. This zone moves seasonally between 30º and 42º N latitude (approximately 800 miles), extending farther south (28ºN) during periods of El Niño (Donohue and Foley, 2007). The vessel’s name is a nod to famed explorer Thor Heyerdahl, who led a 1947 voyage on the Kon-Tiki to test theories of Polynesian settlement by South Americans. The very structure of the plastic material is oily and greasy (basically plastics are solid oil) therefore promoting the accumulation of hydrophobic contaminants (ones that tend to repel and not absorb water) from the surrounding seawater. These findings, published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin, were based on samples gathered from 30 beaches in 17 countries. The municipality of Ventanillas in Peru has calculated that it would have to invest around $400,000 a year in order to clean its coastline, while its annual budget for cleaning all public areas is only half that amount. Indeed, the researchers from Project Kaisei and the Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition (SEAPLEX), after their journey through the area, collecting samples the whole way, reported: “All we could see, not at first glance but with magnifying glass and magnifying worries, for miles and miles, was an incredibly huge mass of confetti-like tiny mermaid tears, plastic fragments, floating just beneath the surface. Plastic production has grown 26 percent from 2010 to 2016, and the pollution crisis has become worse due to the pandemic. In 2009, a professional, international medical organization in the field of endocrinology and metabolism, The Endocrine Society, reported data from new research on animals experimentally treated with BPA. Much of ocean’s life is in the microscopic size range and zooplankton is the base of the food chain. nécessaire]. The United Nations Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Pollution (GESAMP), estimated that land-based sources account for up to 80 percent of the world’s marine pollution, 60 to 95 percent of the waste being plastics debris. We cannot emphasize enough that the GGP is now characterized by extremely high concentrations of suspended plastic debris for 90 percent, basically a soupy mix of plastic-filled seawater, made of tiny plastic debris that have been trapped by the currents and stretching for maybe thousands of miles, and that is the great problem. From the whale, sea lions, and birds to the microscopic organisms called zooplankton, plastic has been, and is, greatly affecting marine life, i.e animals on shore and off shore, whether by ingestion or entanglement. © 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, © 2015- Together with the 2,200-member All Japan Plastic Products Industrial Foundation, the two groups represent the largest plastic producing companies in Japan. Concord, Massachusetts, Becomes the First City in the U.S. to Ban Plastic Water Bottles! The bill for cleaning the beaches in Bohuslän, on the west coast of Sweden, in just one year was reportedly at least 10 million SEK or $1,550,200. Derelict fishing gear can be destructive to coral reefs. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) estimated that the limit in bag production saved China 1.6 million tons of petroleum. These studies have been conducted on plastic nurdles not just because of their uniform size and shape, thus easier to study and compare by scientifics, but also because of their wide spread presence on the world’s beaches. “That project’s scope is far greater. This World Environment Day, it’s time for a change. Recycling is definitely a potentially great path to solving the plastic waste problem but definitely not the most unchallenging one. NOAA has also been contacted regarding cleanup of the debris directly in the garbage patch and other areas of the North Pacific; however, cleanup is likely to be more difficult than it may seem. It’s coming back at us in many ways. When exposed to seawater, the plastics degrade via hydrolysis into nontoxic products, according to the scientists. “Plastics are a contaminant that goes beyond the visual”, says Bill Henry of the Long Marine Laboratory, UCSC. In a 2006 report, Plastic Debris in the World’s Oceans, Greenpeace stated that at least 267 different species are known to have suffered from entanglement and ingestion of plastic debris. Plastic production and consumption contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, devalues marine ecosystems, and chokes the wildlife that makes our oceans so diverse. They have been linked to the masculinisation of female polar bears and spontaneous abortions and declines in seal populations. Corroborating reports and findings worldwide demonstrated that fragmented plastics debris’ increase and massive presence on and off shores does constitute reason for raised worries and awareness. Litter caused by the notorious bags has been referred to as “white pollution.”. Behind each and every piece of littered plastic debris there is a human face. Zero waste can represent an economical alternative to waste systems, where new resources are continually required to replenish wasted raw materials. The Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust took various skin and blubber samples and removed the stomach for further study by the Scottish Agricultural College. Plastics do decompose, though not fully, over a very long period of time (in average 100 to 500 years). Yet, they remain forever - toxic till the end. In the United States, however, measures to ban or curtail the use of plastic bags have met with official resistance. The country avoided the use of 40 billion bags, according to government estimates. Plastic pollution covering the shore, Morocco.Photo: © SAF — Coastal Care. National and international manual clean-up operations of shorelines and sea floor are in existence. Once in the ocean, it is difficult—if not impossible—to retrieve plastic waste. The overwhelmingly largest unquantifiable plastic mass is just made of confetti-like fragmented pieces of plastic. Nearly 700 species, including endangered ones, are known to have been affected by plastics. The movements occur because the North Pacific Gyre is made up of four different currents: the North Pacific Current to the north; the California Current to the west; the North Equatorial Current to the south; and the Kuroshio Current to the east. Rob Krebs of the American Plastics Council notes that people value plastics for exactly what creates the most problems at sea and on lands: their durability. The material, called parkesine, was an organic material derived from cellulose that, once heated, could be molded and retained its shape when cooled. Big plastic makers, including ExxonMobil, Dow and Chevron Phillips Chemical, have said they are committed to tackling plastic pollution, despite increasing production. But once caught up in ocean currents, it can be transported around the world. 50 to 80 percent of sea turtles found dead are known to have ingested plastic marine debris. A 2009 scientific review about environmental chemicals and thyroid function concluded, “Available evidence suggests that governing agencies need to regulate the use of thyroid-disrupting chemicals, particularly as such uses relate exposures of pregnant women, neonates and small children to the agents”. Just a walk on any beach, anywhere in the world, and plastic debris are found in one form or another. 260 million tons per year is our estimated plastic consumption, 6 789 billion, is the estimated world population (United States Census Bureau, as of October 2009). Another effect of the plastic tide that goes beyond visual is its potentiality to change entire ecosystems. Not included PET-, PA- and polyacryl-fibers. The 19 islands of the archipelago, including Midway atolls, receive massive quantities of plastic debris, shot out from the Pacific gyres. Plastic pollution. Plastic microfibers, meanwhile, have been found in municipal drinking water systems and drifting through the air. This means that plastic products are said indestructible, in a biodegradable sense at least. Midways’ beaches, covered with large debris and millions of plastic particles in place of the sand, are suffocating, envenomed by the slow plastic poison continuously washing ashore. In scientific classification, corals fall under the phylum Cnidaria and the class Anthozoa. Most of our current approaches to tackling the problem of global plastic pollution focus on very small-impact solutions (e.g plastic straw bans). And the undisputed leader of cheap convenience is, of … The scientists from Project Kaisei and Scripps hope their data gives clues as to the density and extent of these debris, especially since the Great Pacific Garbage Patch might have company in the Southern Hemisphere, where scientists say the gyre is four times bigger.” We’re afraid at what we’re going to find in the South Gyre, but we’ve got to go there,” said Tony Haymet. Marine debris is a global transboundary pollution problem. This plastic micro-pollution, with its inherent toxicity and consequences on the food chain, had yet to be studied…. Launched in 1986 by the Ocean Conservancy, the Center for Marine Conservation’s annual International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) has grown into the world’s largest volunteer effort to collect data on the marine environment. The global production of plastics has grown dramatically since the 1950s, from 1.5 million metric tons produced annually to nearly 360 million metric tons by the close of the last decade. Indeed, thanks to an increased awareness of the plastic pollution spread, local, national, individual, and associative actions have taken place worldwide to stop the plastic hemorrhage at the source. All you know is that it’s stronger in the middle than it is in the outer reaches. SIO director Tony Haymet described the trip as “ …a forage into the great plastic garbage patch in the north.” To summarize the scientific data collected on the ship, Miriam Goldstein, chief scientist on New Horizon, stated: “We did find debris… coming up in our nets in over 100 consecutive net tows over a distance of 1,700 miles… It is pretty shocking.” She said, “[There is] not a big island, not a garbage dump [that we] can really see easily.” She described it more as a place where large debris floats by a ship only occasionally, but a lot of tiny pieces of plastic exist below the surface of the water. 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