June 25, 2008
ENVIRONMENT
By A. Titan
The Peril of Ocean Plastic
The proliferation of plastic debris in the oceans of the world continues at an alarming rate. Plastic trash is everywhere even on the remote island coastlines of the Arctic and Antarctic. Plastic bags are dumped along with other waste directly into the ocean. Plastic waste is washed from littered beaches and streams; it drifts from coastal dump areas, and washes away from manufacturing facilities, it turns up everywhere.
There are many sources of the debris. Some are the result of fishing activities. Plastic fishing lines, traps and other fishing gear are discarded, lost, or drift away from fishing vessels at an alarming rate. These lines, nets and other derelict gear can continue to drift, entangling fish, marine mammals, and other sea creatures. As they are carried by ocean currents, nets and gear without fishermen attendants float on ensnaring marine life: fish, marine mammals, birds, turtles and other sea creatures.
Because of their movement, this type of debris activity is referred to as "ghost fishing". Populations of manatees, whales, dolphins, large and small fish, sea turtles, seals and seal lions have all been affected by this threat.
80% of the plastic debris found in the oceans comes from land sources, the remainder from ocean dumping, fishing activities and beaches.
A Greenpeace study compiled from scientific data internationally lists 267 marine species affected by plastic debris. The same report concludes that 80% of the plastic debris found in the oceans comes from land sources, the remainder from ocean dumping, fishing activities and beaches. The presence of drifting or floating plastic is harming many species that are already listed as endangered: sharks, sea turtles and right whales to name a few.
The very properties that make plastic so useable and so desirable by man also insure its presence in our environment for centuries to come. It is strong, durable, it is cheap, and it doesn't biodegrade readily. A disposable diaper can last 500 years, a plastic bag 400, a plastic water bottle 450. When plastic does break apart by the action of water and sunlight it becomes particulate, like tiny toxic grains of sand that can be ingested by small marine animals and make their way up the food chain to larger and larger fish, and mammals.
Because plastics are made from petroleum products, they contain highly toxic compounds. There is evidence that these toxins can act as endocrine disruptors that may negatively impact fertility rates or effect embryo development when ingested by pregnant women when they eat contaminated fish. Some studies are finding links between this type of toxic exposure to childhood obesity, diabetes and rising breast cancer rates. Certainly plastic is a problem for both man and animal.
Animals that ingest plastic can suffer gastric blockages, or fill up on plastic and starve to death in a false sense of satiety, or they can ingest toxic loads from bits that have absorbed very high concentrations of PCBs and other carcinogens. Pellets of raw plastic, called nurdles absorb heavy metals and other toxins and have been measured to have over 1 million times the toxic content of the surrounding ocean. These are the same toxins that are increasingly being measured in the flesh of large ocean going fish species, and are increasingly being found in the bodies of fish that people eat. They are also being found in breast milk.
One ocean debris zone, the North Pacific gyre debris convergence, has grown to twice the size of the U.S. state of Texas.
Drifting on the ocean currents, plastic trash floats into debris convergence zones. One such zone, called the North Pacific gyre debris convergence, has grown to twice the size of the US state of Texas. For a sailor's tale of what it was like to come upon and navigate this debris zone visit: Charles Moore's Account
Business suffers too. Each year vessels are damaged by contact with stray lines, nets, and garbage. Some ships have been both becalmed and entangled in debris convergence and there have been fatalities.
The loss of catch to "ghost nets" costs the fishing industry millions of dollars per year. Drifting derelict gear also damages coral reef habitat, already under pressure from other forms of pollution. Studies prove a correlation between depletion of fishstocks and ocean pollution. As time goes by, and the use of plastic continues, the problem of ocean trash will compoud and so will the cost of clean up programs.
One source reports that the volume of plastic trash in the oceans will grow 10 times by 2010. If so, this is a shocking outlook. Cruising web and media sources for signs of hope does reveal some efforts to address the problem. Talk in industry and planning circles has some experts advocating programs like William McDonough's cradle to cradle policy for the design and manufacturing of new products. McDonough, CEO of William McDonough+Partners Architecture and Community Design, wants industry to put into practice a new design paradigm; instead of designing cradle-to-grave products, dumped in landfills at the end of their 'life,' industry can itself be transformed by creating products for cradle-to-cradle cycles in which materials are perpetually circulated in closed loops. Maintaining materials in closed loops maximizes material value without damaging ecosystems. For more information on McDonough visit: mcdonough.com.
Industry can be transformed by creating products for cradle-to-cradle cycles in which materials are perpetually circulated in closed loops. Maintaining materials in closed loops maximizes material value without damaging ecosystems.
Others suggest a cut back on plastic consumption. European businesses are charging high prices for plastic bags and want shoppers to bring their own cloth bags when shopping. "Green" corporations have resorted to supplying paper cups and filtered water in office buildings. Knowledgeable consumers are rebelling against excess packaging.
More consumers are beginning to understand that plastic recycling is ineffective in countering ocean pollution. Unlike glass recycling, where 100% of the material is recyclable, and containers can be put to use again and again, plastic is recycled less than 3% of the time. This means that most ends up in land fills or even the ocean. Reheating, cleaning and reusing plastic releases toxins. Turning plastic water bottles into something else is practiced, but what happens to these 2nd generation products when their useful life is at an end? Such questions beg for a reevaluation of plastics and the convenience they represent.
What’s being done about the problem? Increasingly coastal countries are passing laws about dumping and trash handling. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atomospheric Administration is conducting a drift net clean-up program. While noteworthy, these actions are just a drop in the bucket, but they are an important beginning, one that individuals, governments, and industry must surely continue in order to protect the ocean environment as well as human health and sustainable industry.
Links:
To see an animated map of ocean currents that create debris convergence: greenpeace.org
To learn some ways you can reduce the use of plastic in your life, read these no-nonsense, practical suggestions from Smithsonian.org.
To learn about one cool green product that helps cut down on plastic, read our green product review at: nowkleankanteen.html
To read about the scientific method employed in gauging the effects of plastic debris check out: orionmagazine.org
For more green products try visiting GreenerChoices.org.
For information on another grave oceanic environmental threat read this LA Times report on world oceanic dead zones: latimes.com
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