We need urgent action to address the global plastic pollution epidemic. The Last Beach Cleanup. Low-density polyethylene or linear low-density polyethylene is commonly used to make plastic bags or six-pack rings; polypropylene is commonly used to make reusable food containers or beverage bottle caps. The Center for Biological Diversity is tackling this problem on multiple fronts. Buoyancy is dependent on the density of the material and the presence of entrapped air (Andrady, 2011). The Center has petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to begin regulating plastics as a pollutant and is working to stop plastic pollution at the source, before it ever has a chance to reach the ocean. Recent information on the use of tiny plastic abrasives (commonly called microbeads or nanobeads), especially in personal care products and home cleaning products, and synthetic fabrics shedding during laundering has shown the prevalence of micro- and nanoparticle size plastics as being pervasive in some water bodies. Sign our petition to protect marine wildlife from deadly plastic pollution. A Plastic Ocean 2016 | TV-14 | 1h 40m | Science & Nature Docs When he discovers the world's oceans brimming with plastic waste, a documentary filmmaker investigates the pollution… The physical breakdown of plastics is likely to decrease in the deep sea and non-surface polar environments, where weathering is less of a factor. Plastic pollution is most visible in developing Asian and African nations, where garbage collection systems are often inefficient or nonexistent. The Ocean Cleanup is a non-profit organization developing advanced technologies to rid the oceans of plastic. Just how big is it? There is a growing concern about the hazards plastic pollution in the marine environment. Using the map below, click and drag around the garbage patch (shown in red.)   Your support is crucial to save marine wildlife and our oceans. Persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBTs) chemicals or substances pose a risk to the marine environment because they resist degradation, persisting for years or even decades. Plastic Oceans International is a US-based 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization whose goal is to end plastic pollution and to foster sustainable communities worldwide. How Plastic In The Ocean Is Contaminating Your Seafood : The Salt Fish can absorb toxic chemicals that have been dumped into waterways, but they can also get them from eating plastic… In effect, plastics are like magnets for PBTs. After some amount of time in the ocean, floating plastic debris may become sufficiently fouled with biological growth that the density becomes greater than seawater, and it sinks (Ye, Andrady, 1991). Stemming the plastic tide. Incredibly vast and deep, the ocean acts like a huge sink for global pollution. Organizations such as the Plastic Pollution Coalition and the Plastic Oceans Foundation are using social media and direct action campaigns to support individuals, manufacturers, and businesses in their transition from toxic, disposable plastics to biodegradable or reusable materials. Although nearly every type of commercial plastic is present in marine debris, floating marine debris is dominated by polyethylene and polypropylene because of their high production volumes, their broad utility, and their buoyancy (Colton et al., 1974; Ng and Obbard, 2006; Rios et al., 2007). Every day approximately 8 million pieces of plastic pollution find their way into our oceans. Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem. When PBTs encounter plastic debris, they tend to preferentially sorb (take up or hold) to the debris. The problem is growing into a crisis. It is currently unknown how long traditional plastics persist in the environment, but degradation rates may be as slow as just a few percent of carbon loss over a decade. Plastic Pollution Coalition is a growing global alliance of more than 1,200 organizations, businesses, and thought leaders in 75 countries working toward a world free of plastic pollution and its toxic impact on humans, animals, waterways, the ocean, and the environment. Plastic pollution is one of the greatest threats to ocean health worldwide. For this reason, when in the marine environment, they tend to partition to sediment or concentrate at the sea surface (Hardy et al., 1990; Hardy et al., 1992) and not dissolve into solution. (Andrey Nekrasov/Barcroft Media via Getty Images) The coronavirus has worsened the amount of plastic polluting the world's oceans. Endangered wildlife like Hawaiian monk seals and Pacific loggerhead sea turtles are among nearly 700 species that eat and get caught in plastic litter. Low-density polyethylene is commonly used to make plastic bags or six-pack rings; polypropylene is commonly used to make reusable food containers or beverage bottle caps. These oil giants are rapidly building petrochemical plants across the United States to turn fracked gas into plastic. Oceans are silently choking on our plastic waste. Search our newsroom Studies estimate there are now 15–51 trillion pieces of plastic in the world's oceans — from the equator to the poles, from Arctic ice sheets to the sea floor. The extent to which we, too, are being affected by the plastics that have become so ubiquitous in our environment—in our food, water and air—is a … A study published in 2017 estimated between 1.15 to 2.41 million tonnes of plastic enters the oceans via rivers annually, with peak months being between May and October. At current rates plastic is expected to outweigh all the fish in the sea by 2050. Everest, to the Mariana Trench, the deep point in our oceans. In contrast to other organic and inorganic marine debris, plastics and synthetic materials are typically persistent in the environment while maintaining their bioavailability. Plastic Oceans International is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization, founded and existing under the laws of California (Federal Tax ID #81-3778043). It is estimated that up to 12 million metric tons of plastic enter our ocean each year.. Our oceans are slowly turning into a plastic soup, and the effects on ocean life are chilling. Plastics on the seafloor may sorb PBTs from the sediments (Graham, Thompson, 2009; Rios et al., 2007), in addition to sorbing them from the seawater. Only in 1997, with Captain Charles Moore’s discovery, was the plastic waste pollution in the ocean widely brought to media light and finally began to receive more serious attention from the public and the scientific world, stepping the way to more exhaustive research about plastic and its consequences and effects when entering marine life. Although much of the marine debris research focuses on floating plastic debris, it is important to recognize that only approximately half of all plastic is positively buoyant, that is, it floats (EPA 1992). Country Laws on Plastic Products. But, disposable consumer goods end up – often after a single, fleeting use – in land-fills, littering our landscapes, and polluting our Ocean. We’re challenging the permits needed to build those new ethane cracker plants and organizing grassroots resistance to stop them. (OSPAR, 2009) 12 million tonnes of plastic are poured into the ocean every year. (Eriksen et al., 2013). Tweet This Global trends suggest that accumulations are increasing in aquatic habitats, consistent with trends in plastic production. We're surrounded by plastic. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a gyre of plastic debris in the north-central Pacific Ocean.
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