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Impact of Plastic Pollution on the Marine Environment

It is now believed that there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean. Of that mass, 269,000 tons float on the surface, while some 4 billion plastic microfibers per square kilometer litter the deep sea (Parker, Ocean Trash: 5.25 Trillion Pieces and Counting, but Big Questions Remain, 2015). Marine debris is one of the most visible forms of plastic pollution. The term ‘marine debris’ has been used for at least 25 years to refer to man-made materials that have been discarded or lost into the ocean (Lytle, 2015). Marine debris in turn has catastrophic impacts on sea life, and ecosystem as well.
Marine debris contains other elements in addition to plastic, such as: metal, glass, rubber, and textiles. Plastic makes up for the majority of floating debris, but the ocean floor holds denser debris. According to UNEP (United Nations Environmental Program), marine debris, or marine litter is ‘any persistent, manufactured, processed, or solid material discarded, disposed of, or abandoned in the marine or coastal environment.’ According to a report by the Algalita
Marine Research Foundation (published in October 2008 in Environmental Research), marine litter is now 60 to 80% plastic, reaching 95% in some areas.
Plastic debris gets to accumulate because it is non-bio-degradable, it however is photodegradable (capable of being chemically broken down by light). Moreover, most plastic waste items are buoyant, allowing for them to travel through currents for thousands of miles and further endangering marine ecosystems.

According to Bill Henry of the Long Marine Laboratory, ‘plastics are a contaminant that goes beyond the visual.’ Upon entry of plastic debris into water, they become a very pervasive problem, why?  Plastic has inherent properties like buoyancy, resistance to photo degradation (hence durability), propensity to absorb water pollutants, and even worse, its ability to decompose, leaching toxins like Bisphenol A (BPA) into ocean waters.

Works Cited

Lytle, C. L. (2015). When The Mermaids Cry: The Great Plastic Tide. Retrieved April 15, 2015, from Plastic Pollution: http://plastic-pollution.org/
Parker, L. (2015, January 11). Ocean Trash: 5.25 Trillion Pieces and Counting, but Big Questions Remain. Retrieved May 16, 2015, from National Geographic: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/01/150109-oceans-plastic-sea-trash-science-marine-debris/

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