What do rubber duckies, Regina George, and the environment have in common? Plastic. However, these aren’t the only items that contain plastic. So do water bottles, children’s toys, food containers, and straws. In fact, since plastic production began in the 1950s, we have produced 18.2 trillion pounds of it, equivalent to 1 billion elephants, 80 million blue whales, or 25,000 Empire State buildings (Geyer et al. 1). By any standard, that’s a ton. And a large chunk of that, 8 million metric tons, or 17.5 billion pounds, to be exact, ends up in the oceans (Le Guern). This creates a problem. I bet you’ve heard that before.
Now, plastic doesn’t limit itself in its negative impact. The deleterious effect of plastic on the environment is evident, which then spreads to the well-being of individuals across the globe, those individuals including you and I. Plastic, in its many forms, causes major problems and negative effects on the human body and the environment in which it lives.
Most plastic doesn’t start out in the ocean. In fact, more than “80% of the annual input” of plastic into the oceans “comes from land-based sources” (Sherrington). Say, when a plastic bag is thrown away and transported to a landfill, and because it is so lightweight, the plastic bag will drift through the wind. It will eventually end up in the ocean, which isn’t quite its last destination. Plastic, regardless of its source, ends up in the various depths of the ocean. Marine life and seabirds then consume this plastic in all of its shapes and sizes, including one of the most frequent offenders: microplastics. Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic that are about the size of a sesame seed. These plastics are often swallowed by even the smallest of creatures, such as zooplankton.
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To move from one of the smallest species in the ocean to a major predator outside the ocean, according to Chris Wilcox, a scientist from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, 90% of all seabirds have plastic in their digestive tracts (1). As seabirds hunt on the surface of the water, it isn’t surprising that many end up with plastic in their stomachs. Plastic can reside on the surface of the water, usually clumped together in gyres, a large collection of plastic and other contaminants, or other similar formations. This causes a large number of seabirds to swallow plastic. This is dangerous for two reasons. The first reason is because when plastic builds up in digestive tract of an animal, it can’t be broken down. A build up of this plastic will inevitably lead to the death of that animals.
And this occurs too often. According to the World Wildlife Fund, “The number of seabirds dying as a result of plastic is currently estimated at 1 million a year.” The second reason that this is harmful is because plastic seeps once it is in the digestive tract, releasing toxic chemicals into the animal. According to the Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection, or GESAMP, studies have shown that when plastic is introduced to an “organism [that] is relatively clean of contaminants…chemicals will transfer from the plastic into the lipid” inside of the organism (58). Many adverse effects come from this chemical transfer, such as tumor development, cellular death, and endocrine disruption (GESAMP 59).
Seabirds aren’t the only animals swallowing plastic and suffering from these adverse effects, either. Whales, fish, sharks, and other marine animals have also fallen victim to the shiny allure of the plastic. According to Dr. Linda Amaral-Zettler, a senior scientist at the Royal Netherland Institute for Sea Research, 114 animal species contain microplastics, and over half of them are species that end up on our dinner plates. This presents a unique problem that crosses between the two realms that plastic negatively affects.
First, the animal consumes the plastic, which can impair the life of said animal. Then, this animal may be caught by a fisherman and sold to a restaurant. This restaurant would unknowingly feed a patron plastic. And believe it or not, this happens. Sarah Dudas, a shellfish biologist at Vancouver Island University produced a study on what was inside of shellfish. She found that an overwhelming majority of shellfish off the coast of Vancouver had plastics in their digestive tracts (Christensen). Shellfish, as well as oysters and other seafood that is frequently eaten by humans, can contain plastics that are then transferred to our bodies. As explained by GESAMP, there are two main potential negative effects to the human body that this could cause:
- toxic chemicals originating from additives to the plastic or chemicals the plastic has acquired could leak into the body or
- diseases due to chemical contamination (77).
Both of these are extremely harmful to the human body – and completely unreasonable. Bisphenol A, or BPA, is a main offender of contamination. According to Professor Patricia Hunt, BPA has been shown to have a vastly negative effect on mice. In a study where she exposed pregnant mice to BPA,“40 percent of their eggs were corrupted.” This means a drastic decrease in fertility. While this isn’t a study done on humans, BPA has proven to be a huge offender of toxic chemical disruption.
Since I began talking, 6 garbage trucks filled with plastic have been dumped into the ocean. This is a sad narrative. And it’s only expected to get worse. By 2050, there will be more pounds of plastic in the ocean than there are fish. By 2050, we will be producing 4 times more plastic than we ever have before. By 2050, 99% of all seabirds will have plastic in their digestive tracts (Wilcox).
However, these figures are not set in stone. By 2050, our oceans could be clean and plastic-free. By 2050, plastic in the digestive tracts of any marine animal could be unheard of. By 2050, single use plastic could be eliminated. This change starts with you. It starts with a refusal of straws, with buying a BPA free reusable water bottle, with recycling water bottles. It starts with even the smallest contributions. All of these small contributions here and there will add up. And before you know it, by 2050, we will have a cleaner and safer place for ourselves and the generations that come after us.
Works Cited
- Amaral-Zettler, Linda. “Sources, Fate and Effects of Microplastics in the Marine Environment Part 2 of a Global Assessment.” GESAMP, International Maritime Organization, 2016, file:///C:/Users/LCGui/Downloads/sources-fate-and-effects-of-microplastics-in-the-marine-environment-part-2-of-a-global-assessment-en.pdf.
- Christensen, Ken. “Guess What’s Showing Up In Our Shellfish? One Word: Plastics.” NPR, NPR, 19 Sept. 2017, www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/09/19/551261222/guess-whats-showing-up-in-our-shellfish-one-word-plastics.
- Geyer, Roland, et al. “Production, Use, and Fate of All Plastics Ever Made.” Science Advances, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1 July 2017, advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/7/e1700782.
- Hinterthuer, Adam. “Just How Harmful Are Bisphenol A Plastics?” Scientific American, 1 Sept. 2008, www.scientificamerican.com/article/just-how-harmful-are-bisphenol-a-plastics/.
- “How Many Birds Die from Plastic Pollution?” Wildlife & Environmental Conservation Organisation – WWF – WWF-Australia, 9 Oct. 2018, www.wwf.org.au/news/blogs/how-many-birds-die-from-plastic-pollution#gs.mxKkNBI.
- Leeson, Craig, director. A Plastic Ocean. Netflix, Netflix, 19 Apr. 2017, www.netflix.com/watch/80164032?trackId=13752289.
- Le Guern, Claire. “When The Mermaids Cry: The Great Plastic Tide.” Plastic Pollution, Mar. 2018, plastic-pollution.org/.
- Royte, Elizabeth. “We Know Plastic Is Harming Marine Life. What About Us?” National Geographic, National Geographic, 16 May 2018, www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-health-pollution-waste-microplastics/.
- Sherrington, Chris. “Plastics in the Marine Environment.” Eunomia, 1 June 2016, www.eunomia.co.uk/reports-tools/plastics-in-the-marine-environment/.
- Wilcox, Chris, et al. “Threat of Plastic Pollution to Seabirds Is Global, Pervasive, and Increasing.” PNAS, National Academy of Sciences, 27 Aug. 2015, www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/08/27/1502108112.
