We have to stop filling and killing the oceans with plastic

[Oscar]

We have to stop filling and killing the oceans with plastic

[ http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/scienc ... h-plastic/ ]

February 26, 2015

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QUOTE: "Oceans and the life they support face numerous threats, from climate change to overfishing. Reducing the amount of plastic we dump into them is a challenge we can meet. Let's get on it."

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Eight million tonnes. That's how much plastic we're tossing into the oceans every year! University of Georgia environmental engineer Jenna Jambeck says it's enough to line up five grocery bags of trash on every foot of coastline in the world. [ http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... s-science/ ]

A study published by Jambeck and colleagues in the journal Science on February 12 examined how 192 coastal countries disposed of plastic waste in 2010. The report, "Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean", estimates that of 275 million tonnes of plastic generated, about eight million (based on a midpoint estimate of 4.8 million to 12.7 million tonnes) ends up in the seas — blown from garbage dumps into rivers and estuaries, discarded on beaches or along coastlines and carried to the oceans. [ http://www.sciencemag.org/content/347/6223/768.abstract ]

China tops the list of 20 countries responsible for 83 per cent of "mismanaged plastic" in the oceans, sending between 1.32 and 3.53 million tonnes into the seas. [ http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015 ... every-year ] The U.S., which has better waste-management systems, is number 20 on the list, responsible for 0.04 to 0.11 tonnes. [ http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015 ... every-year ] Some countries in the top 20 don't even have formal waste-management systems. The fear is that, as human populations grow, the amount of plastic going into the oceans will increase dramatically if countries don't improve waste-management systems and practices — and reduce the amount of plastic they produce and use.

Scientists don't know where most plastic ends up or what overall effect it's having on marine life and food supplies. They do know that massive islands of plastic and other waste [ http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/ocean-garbage/ ] — some as large as Saskatchewan — swirl in five gyres in the north and south Pacific, north and south Atlantic and Indian oceans. But that's only a small amount of the total.

Plastic is everywhere in our seas. It accumulates on the sea floor and in sediments, washes up on coastlines and is taken up by fish and other sea creatures. It affects birds, fish, mammals and other marine life. It eventually breaks down into smaller bits, which can look like fish eggs and get eaten by marine animals, but it never biodegrades. Those particles, or microplastics, just keep building up. They also absorb and concentrate toxic chemicals, poisoning the animals that consume them. Studies show that 44 per cent of all seabird species have plastic in and around their bodies, and fish, birds, turtles and whales often become fatally entangled in plastic waste.

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[ http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/scienc ... h-plastic/ ]

[Oscar]

Obama signs ban on microbead pollution

[ http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/201 ... ead_p.html ]

By Garret Ellison | gellison@mlive.com December 28, 2015 at 7:23 PM

Say goodbye to the beads.

On Monday, Dec. 28, President Barack Obama signed into law a ban on tiny plastic particles used in personal cosmetic products that scientists say are polluting U.S. lakes, rivers and the oceans. [ http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/ ... eynot.html ]

The bipartisan "Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015," (H.R. 1321), passed by the U.S. House on Dec. 7, "prohibits the manufacture and introduction into interstate commerce of rinse-off cosmetics containing intentionally-added plastic microbeads."

The tiny plastic beads, about the size of a pen-tip, have been shown to filter through municipal wastewater treatment plants after consumers rinse them down the drain while using soaps, toothpaste and other products that contain them. [ http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/201 ... higan.html ]

The concern is that pollutants can attach to the floating plastic, which enters the food chain when fish and wildlife mistake the tiny beads as edible.

The House bill was co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St Joseph, and Rep. Frank Pallone, D-New Jersey. The Senate approved the bill Dec. 18.

The law will phase microbeads out of consumer products over the next few years, starting with a ban on manufacturing the beads in July 2017, followed by product-specific manufacturing and sales bans in 2018 and 2019.

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[ http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/201 ... ead_p.html ]