Marine Litter - Ivana Thompson

marine liTTer - IVana ThomPson

“It is the worst of times but it is the best of times because we still have a chance.” By Ivana Thompson

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, Marine Litter is any persistent, manufactured or processed solid material that has been discarded, disposed of or abandoned in the marine and coastal environment. There can be several causes of marine litter which include poor solid waste practices (such as reckless dumping or burying of wastes), lack of proper infrastructure (to promote proper disposal habits), insufficient knowledge on disposal practices, lack of financial resources and limited enforcement on regulations in place. It is important to note that plastic pollution is the most widespread problem that is known to affect the marine environment. Based on the statistics, there is estimated 300 million tons of plastics created annually (of which 50% are single use plastics), while there is approximately 8 million tons of plastic discarded yearly. Dead zones refer to areas where there is little to no sign of life and where oxygen levels are lower than 2 milligrams per liter. To date, there are 500 marine locations that have been classified as dead zones with an estimated 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic wastes in our oceans contributing to this classification. Some common plastic litter that must be noted include:

a) Plastic Bags: which take about 20 years to photodegrade (where the ultraviolet rays turn plastic brittle, further breaking them into smaller pieces known as microplastics) as there is no complete breakdown. There are approximately 500 billion plastic bags used annually, of which only 1% is returned for recycling. They have adverse effects in the environment as they have been recorded to kill about 100,000 marine animals annually. A significant one to note is its effects on marine turtles that can starve to death by mistaking them for jellyfish and ingesting them.

b) Plastic Bottles: take about 450 years to start disintegrating. While there are millions of bottles produced annually, only 25% is recycled. Plastic bottles can cause whales, seals and other marine organisms to starve when they ingest their fragments. Bottles are also known to increase the pathogen growth in the water and thus the potential for more diseases to spread among marine biodiversity.

c) Plastic Straws: take approximately 200 years to start disintegrating. There are about 8.3 billion plastic straws recorded to date, however, straws only comprise 0.025% of the annual plastic pollution. While this may seem minimal, straws can accumulate with other plastic debris and form large masses on the ocean surface blocking out light to marine ecosystems and life. Because of the small size of plastic straws, birds, fish and other marine animals can ingest it and can get stuck in their nasal passages causing difficulty breathing.

d) Fishing Gear: takes approximately 600 years to breakdown and makes up 10% of all marine litter with more than 640,000 tons of nets, lines and traps being discarded into the sea annually. Because of this, it has been regarded as the majority of large plastic pollution in the oceans. This example of plastic pollution is severe to marine environments as a phenomenon known as “Ghost Fishing” can occur. With this, there is an entanglement of marine animals by once discarded fishing gear leading to death through suffocation or exhaustion. On a global level, there has been over 32,000 marine animals recovered from 870 nets (between 2002 and 2010).

e) Plastic Toothbrushes: takes approximately 500 years to start disintegrating. There are on average 3.5 billion toothbrushes sold each year, most of which are usually used 3-4 months before being discarded.

f) Balloons: They can begin disintegrating in about 4 years and it is the Latex balloons that have been considered as more biodegradable. Helium balloons are composed of a metallic coating which is not biodegradable. When released into the air, they eventually can land in the marine environment where the ribbons attached to the balloons can entangle birds or the flippers and fins of other marine organisms.

MARINE LITTER IMPACT ON HUMANS

1. Contamination of coastal waters has been linked to 250 million clinical cases of human diseases Diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) contained in some plastics, is a toxic carcinogen.

2. Related health costs are approximately 16 Billion USD globally.

3. Shellfish that has been contaminated has in turn cause 50,000-100,000 deaths due to impacts on immune systems and cancer diagnosis.

4. Over three billion people depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods making up 5% of the global GDP.

5. Research shows that by the end of this century, marine waters will be 150% more acidic making it more difficult to be utilized by humans.

Goal 14 of Sustainable Development Goals encourages consciousness of Marine Life, “Life Below Water– Conserve and Sustainably Use the Oceans, Seas and Marine

marine liTTer - IVana ThomPson

Resources for Sustainable Development.” The United Nations (UN) reports indicate that Oceans are the lungs of our planet as they produce at least 50% of the planet’s oxygen. They are also home to most of earth’s biodiversity, and are the main source of protein for more than a billion people around the world. It is therefore recommended that ongoing efforts of Public Education of Marine Biodiversity and stricter Regulations and Penalties for Marine Degradation should be considered. In addition, alternatives to single use plastics and anti-littering campaigns especially into our waterways will greatly help if we want to reverse the trend of dead zones and the prediction that our oceans within another two decades will contain more plastic than fishes. Her simple advice to all is to practice the 5 “Rs” – Reuse, Reduce, Recycle, Refuse, and Remind. Be part of the Solution.