How is Plastic Harmful to Marine Life?

 

How is Plastic Harmful to Marine Life?

Introduction

“100 million marine animals die each year from plastic waste alone,” (Marine & Ocean Pollution Statistics & Facts 2020, Page 1). This is because people throw their plastic items near the ocean when they are at the beach.  This accumulation of plastic pollution doesn’t happen all of a sudden, it happens gradually. It starts with one person doing it and then another person thinks it's ok to throw plastic in that spot because somebody else did, too. Eventually, this leads to a HUGE pile of plastic near the ocean and that becomes a threat to sea life.

Where is the most amount of plastic accumulated? 

Each year, China produces nearly 60 million metric tons of plastic making it the largest producer of plastic in the world (Ritchie, Page 1). The third longest river in the world, the Yangtze River, is the major hotspot of plastic accumulation in all  of China. The Yangtze River carries a whopping amount of 333,000 metric tons of plastic into the oceans each year (Roth, Page 1). The main concern is that ⅓ of China’s population (about 466 million) depends on the Yangtze for food and water (Roth, Page 1). If a huge amount of plastic is mixed into the water, many people could be affected by serious diseases and some could even die.

What has the UN done to curb ocean population?

Also, The United Nations (UN) has been working on resolving the problem, but we still have a long way to go. The UN “agreed to amend the Basel Convention to make global trade in plastic waste more transparent and better regulated, while also ensuring that its management is safer for human health and the environment,” (Miles, Page 1). This shows that the UN is working on reducing plastic pollution and therefore saving marine animals from getting extinct. Apart from the UN’s efforts, we ourselves also have to stop polluting plastic near the ocean in order to  save  innocent animals.

Why is the plastic thrown in the ocean harmful to marine animals?

The plastic that is thrown in the ocean by humans can harm marine animals in many ways. Some marine animals get entangled in plastic which makes them choke while others ingest plastic waste which cloggs their digestive system and causes death (Musau, Page 1). This shows how marine animals mistakenly get trapped because of plastic. It is really sad to see how marine animals struggle and crave to get rid of the plastic from their bodies. This also awakens us to stop throwing plastic materials near the ocean.

In what ways are certain governments helping marine animals from plastic?

The United States government passed a law named “Save our Seas Act” of 2017. This law is still active in Congress which is aimed towards reducing marine plastic pollution and marine debris (What’s Happening at the Federal Level on Plastic Pollution, Page 1). This act also requires NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) to continue its work researching and ultimately preventing trash in our marine environment (What’s Happening at the Federal Level on Plastic Pollution, Page 1). This evidence proves that our government knows about the problems that marine animals are facing. The government is helping make a change in plastic pollution, we should too!

How has the pollution of plastic increased/decreased over time?

From 1950 to 2015, the annual production of plastic has increased 200-fold (200 times) to 381 million metric tons of plastic per year (Roser, Page 1). This statistic shows us that we have been polluting plastic more than ever these last few decades. Instead of being more careful, we have been very careless. And, estimately, this plastic pollution probably increased the most near water bodies, where marine animals reside. 

Has the government put a fine for polluting plastic?

Two bills - one present in the state assembly and one in the Senate - committed a 75% deduction in plastic statewide in 10 years. This law would require manufacturers to ensure that all single-use plastic is fully recyclable or compostable by 2030. Companies that would fail to comply would face a fine of $50,000 a day (Singh, Page 1). This shows that some amount of fine is being collected for polluting biodegradable plastic (plastic that can’t be degradable). On top of this, in August 2014, California became the first state to enact legislation and impose a statewide ban on single-use plastic (State Plastic Bag Legislation, Page 1). “The bill also required a 10-cent minimum charge for recycled paper bags, reusable plastic bags, and compostable bags at certain locations,” (State Plastic Bag Legislation, Page 1). This shows how hard the government is trying to get rid of plastic pollution. People usually don’t care if laws are passed WITHOUT a fine. But when they have to pay, they stay more alert of what they are doing. This is a very good way of getting people to put plastic garbage in trash cans only. 

What are people’s opinions on the pollution of plastics near oceans?

There is an organization named The Ocean Cleanup that is holding a campaign for cleaning up plastic from the ocean. This group is aiming toward cleaning 90% of floating ocean plastic pollution (Slat, Page 1). This shows that some people apart from the government are active on freeing marine animals from the deadly plastic. We should take inspiration from this group of environmental activists and start cleaning up plastic near our oceans as well. Also, The Ocean Cleanup team has also developed advanced-level technologies to get rid of the plastic in the ocean (Slat, Page 1). This shows their contribution toward getting rid of plastic because to make these technologies, they have to spend a ton of money, and not everyone likes to spend their money toward cleaning up oceans. The team also has built items like sunglasses, a Wilson case, and a big bag pouch from plastic ONLY (Slat, Page 1).

Judge what chemicals are used in making plastic. Are they harmful?

“The term ‘plastics’ includes materials composed of various elements such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine, and sulfur,” (How Plastics Are Made, Page 1). The word “sulfur” is a red signal because sulfur gas is very harmful. This proves that plastics contain harmful gases. Another evidence states that phthalates molecules (pronounced: tha - leits) is a chemical found in plastics which is harmful, and are not tightly packed with other molecules of plastics, so they “migrate” into our bodies from the plastic (How to avoid toxic chemicals in plastics, Page 1). “Phthalates are endocrine disruptors that are linked to reproductive malformations in baby boys, reduced fertility, developmental disorders, asthma, and increased allergic reactions,” (How to avoid toxic chemicals in plastics, Page 1). This tells us that if phthalates travel to our bodies, then it might cause some unhealthy things, especially for boys, such as asthma. This proves that plastic contains many harmful and toxic chemicals (the ones listed are just some examples). 

Conclusion

Plastic is a danger and a threat to marine life. I see people throw plastic containers near our community lake, and it’s very sad to see. We shall now stay more alert and careful of where we are throwing plastic materials. We should just think ONCE about the troubles marine animals face due to the piece of plastic. 

Works Cited

Foundation, Surfrider. “What’s Happening at the Federal Level on Plastic Pollution.” Surfrider Foundation, Surfrider Foundation, 30 August 2017, https://www.surfrider.org/coastal-blog/entry/whats-happening-at-the-federal-level-on-plastic-pollution. Accessed 10 March 2021.

“Marine & Ocean Pollution Statistics & Facts 2020.” CondorFerries, CondorFerries, https://www.condorferries.co.uk/marine-ocean-pollution-statistics-facts#:~:text=100%20million%20marine%20animals%20die,by%20North%20Pacific%20fish%20yearly. Accessed 9 March 2021.

Miles, Tom. “U.N. clinches deal to stop plastic waste ending up in the sea.” Reuters, Reuters, 10 May 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-environment-plastic/u-n-clinches-deal-to-stop-plastic-waste-ending-up-in-the-sea-idUSKCN1SG19S. Accessed 10 March 2021.

Musau, Zipporah. “Plastics pose biggest threat to oceans.” United Nations, United Nations, July 2017, https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/may-july-2017/plastics-pose-biggest-threat-oceans. Accessed 10 March 2021.

Ritchie, Hannah. “Where does our plastic accumulate in the ocean and what does that mean for the future?” Our World In Data, Our World In Data, 24 September 2019, https://ourworldindata.org/where-does-plastic-accumulate#:~:text=Firstly%2C%20is%20that%20the%20majority,the%20edges%20of%20the%20oceans. Accessed 9 March 2021.

Roth, Joachim. “The rise of plastic insecurity in China’s Yangtze River economic belt.” GreenBiz, GreenBiz, 5 February 2019, https://www.greenbiz.com/article/rise-plastic-insecurity-chinas-yangtze-river-economic-belt#:~:text=There%20is%20a%20major%20pollution,Yangtze%20for%20food%20and%20water. Accessed 9 March 2021.

“How Plastics Are Made.” American Chemistry, American Chemistry, https://plastics.americanchemistry.com/How-Plastics-Are-Made/#:~:text=The%20term%20%E2%80%9Cplastics%E2%80%9D%20includes%20materials,thousands%20of%20atoms%20bound%20together. Accessed 18 March 2021.

“How to avoid toxic chemicals in plastics.” MadeSafe, MadeSafe, 13 December 2016, https://www.madesafe.org/avoid-toxic-chemicals-plastics/#:~:text=The%20most%20famous%20toxic%20chemical,whole%20host%20of%20health%20problems. Accessed 18 March 2021.

Roser, Max, and Hannah Ritchie. “Plastic Pollution.” Our World in Data, Our World in Data, September 2018, https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution. Accessed 12 March 2021.

Singh, Maanvi. “Most ambitious US law to tackle single-use plastics faces make-or-break moment.” The Guardian, The Guardian, 13 September 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/sep/13/california-plastics-legislation-single-use. Accessed 12 March 2021.

Slat, Boyan. “THE LARGEST CLEANUP IN HISTORY.” The Ocean Cleanup, The Ocean Cleanup, https://theoceancleanup.com/. Accessed 15 March 2021.

“State Plastic Bag Legislation.” NCSL, NCSL, 8 febuary 2021, https://www.ncsl.org/research/environment-and-natural-resources/plastic-bag-legislation.aspx. Accessed 12 March 2021.

How is Plastic Harmful to Marine Life? by Srijan Agarwal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://srijansinfo.blogspot.com/2021/03/how-is-plastic-harmful-to-marine-life.html.