Mitigating the Effects of Plastic Dumping in Oceans

Plastic Pollution in the Ocean
Abstract
Pollution is one of the leading harms facing the world today along with climate change, global warming, natural resource depletion, poor disposal of waste. Presently, plastics are used in covering various items because of their flexibility and durability. However, environmental concerns have always arisen because of improper discarding or recycling with some of them reaching water bodies such as oceans and becoming sources of pollution. Plastics are known to have an indestructible morphology that brings harm to the ecosystems. Moreover, they contain toxins that affect marine life thereby attracting the attention and the need for research. The following study focuses on plastic pollution in the ocean with a focus on the scientific perspectives, the negative effects such as loss of nutritional value for marine creatures, physical damages, the transport of alien species, and exposure to pathogens, and possible mitigation strategies.
Plastic pollution in the ocean
Introduction
The twenty-first century is known as the “Age of Plastics” because plastics are used in packaging almost all manufactured items. The versatility, durability, and resistance of plastic are the characteristics that have rendered many companies and institutions to use the plastic material as their product. Plastic is a boon to humanity. Soda bottles, plastic bags, drinking straws and takeout containers are some of the plastic materials in question that total to about 19 billion pounds of garbage (Mosbergen, 2017). The garbage figure is bound to double by 2025 if no measures are adopted. In 2013, plastic production accumulated to 300 million tons. Although the plastic industry in Europe is known to have employed over 1.4 million people who generated about 26 billion euro for Europe’s finance and welfare department, plastic is still a menace to the marine environment (Plastic Europe, 2014).
Discussion
Plastics are cheap and easy use or discard. Such factors have contributed to the excessive production and poor disposal in many organizations, companies, and businesses. Sadly, almost 10% of plastic produced annually ends up in the ocean and yet the degradation process of plastic can take several hundreds of years. The non-biodegradable feature of plastic means that they break down when exposed to sunlight into smaller pieces and these fragments are what is called microplastics. In exfoliates to health and other beauty products, microbeads are added to them, which pollute the ocean’s ecosystem.
The underlying question is how the plastic ends up in the ocean. Most of the plastic is transported off land litter by wind, and other contributing channels of transportation are the beaches and land-based sources like wastewater discharges, storm water runoff, and rivers among others. Furthermore, landfills that are poorly managed contribute to some plastics entering the ocean. Moreover, littering and tourist activities and fisheries are other sources. Additionally, other sources could be the loss of gear materials by recreational anglers and other professionals engaging in maritime activities. Moreover, there are instances when debris is dumped into the ocean by commercial entities, private ships, or even cruise personnel.
Microplastics are also found after washing synthetic clothing especially those made of acrylic or polyester. In 2016, a study carried out showed that a single cycle of a washing machine could release into the environment more than 700,000 microplastic fibers (Mosbergen, 2017). Such vast amounts of microplastic fibers exposed to the marine ecosystems mean that the animal species found in such water bodies will suffer and some may eventually die due to the chemicals found in plastic materials.
Some plastic materials are known to sink into the ocean while others float away and travel long distances due to the ocean currents. They cause the pollution of shorelines and massive accumulation in mid-ocean gyres. It is through such contaminated plastics and particles that scientists attribute the source of the chemical found in most of our foods. The environmental damage brought about by plastic pollution in the ocean may include heightened illness or mortality rates when sea creatures like turtles ingest the plastic material. Moreover, coral reefs are the natural habitats of the ocean and are damaged by plastics, which bring about chemical contamination concerns and invasive species due to the spread of plastic fragments (Hammer, Kraak & Parsons, 2012). Such accumulation into the ocean brings about negative consequences that span from the economic costs associated with cleaning of beaches and the aesthetic impact of litter to ecological and biological effects that are known to bring economic damages to marine ecosystems to a whopping $13 billion yearly (Beans, 2014).
A nonprofit organization called Ocean Conservancy believes that dumping of plastics in the ocean threatens the life of at least 160 different wildlife species (Mosbergen, 2017). For instance, in the coast of Norway, a whale was found dead due to ingesting of 30 plastic bags. Such threats also affect human beings because they eat seafood and may have consumed plastics while in the ocean. The toxicity of such plastic materials to human beings have seen the increased risk of liver damage and cancer rising. The other problem humans’ encounter is problems related to their reproductive health and other adverse health effects. The increase in plastic ingestion by fish is because they are confusing the plastic fragments to be food because they have been coated with bacteria and algae. Oysters, lobsters, and mussels are some of the shellfish that have been found to have microplastics in their digestive systems. It depicts that some people consuming seafood could be consuming 11,000 microplastics on a yearly basis.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Plastic pollution in the ocean is a menace that needs to be looked into because it has posted very many problems spanning from biological to financial burden for a country’s economy. Therefore, we have a role to play when it comes to mitigating the problem. Population density is an issue that has driven ocean pollution to great heights due to the individual choices we make about disposing of and recycling of plastic products. Therefore, the focus needs to be given to improving waste management systems because they are mostly responsible for the leakage of plastic into the ocean (Groden, 2015).
Overall, reducing, recycling, and redesigning of products using plastics can be a solution. Such moves will lead to having multiple green economic benefits like the reduction of damage to marine ecosystems, and the tourism industries will flourish (Beans, 2014). Moreover, such measures will mean that countries will enjoy the savings made from the recycling of plastic material and innovation opportunities will be experienced thus reducing reputational risks.


References
Beans, L. (2014, June). Plastic waste causes $13 billion in damages to marine ecosystems each year. EcoWatch. Retrieved from https://www.ecowatch.com/plastic-waste-causes-13-billion-in-damages-to-marine-ecosystems-each-y-1881928486.html
Groden, C. (2015, October). Report: Plastic pollution in the ocean is reaching crisis levels. Fortune. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2015/10/01/ocean-plastic-pollution/
Hammer, J., Kraak M. H. & Parsons, J. R. (2012). Plastics in the marine environment: The Dark side of a modern gift. In: Whitacre D. (Eds) Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (Continuation of Residue Reviews), vol 220. New York, NY: Springer.
Mosbergen, D. (2017, May). The oceans are drowning in plastic – and no one’s paying attention. Huffpost. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/plastic-waste-oceans_us_58fed37be4b0c46f0781d426
Plastic Europe. (2014). Plastics- the Fact 2014/2015.