{"id":40093221,"date":"2023-05-05T16:18:24","date_gmt":"2023-05-05T15:18:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadialogueocean.net\/?p=93221"},"modified":"2023-07-27T17:09:08","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T16:09:08","slug":"invisible-pollution-harming-the-ocean-and-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/invisible-pollution-harming-the-ocean-and-us\/","title":{"rendered":"The invisible pollution harming the ocean, and us"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the chilly gloom of the Californian seabed, thousands<\/a> of barrels ooze<\/a> a banned chemical. Some date back to the 1940s when the first was dumped off the coast. In March this year, researchers found that the chemical, DDT, has barely broken down<\/a>, remaining as toxic as it was 80 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) is an insecticide that was widely used in agriculture until being banned \u2013 in the United States in 1972 and globally in 2001 \u2013 due to concerns about health impacts on wildlife and people. Its dense chemical bonds can resist degradation for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers now worry that dredging or storms could cause this polluted stretch of seafloor off the Los Angeles coast to release toxic plumes, threatening sea life and those who eat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Recommended<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/a>\n\n\n\n

Plastic gets the limelight when it comes to ocean pollution, but chemicals pose \u201ca major threat, one that we\u2019re probably consistently underestimating,\u201d says Alex Rogers, a marine ecologist at the University of Oxford, and science director with REV Ocean, a research non-profit working on solutions to ocean challenges. The problem goes far beyond legacy pollutants like those barrels of DDT. Today, around 350,000 synthetic chemicals are widely used in manufacturing. They are embedded in our everyday lives in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, cleaning products, electrical goods, textiles, furniture and other products. Ninety-five percent<\/a> of all manufactured items now contain synthetic chemicals of some kind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their diverse applications have revolutionised our lives, but they can also endanger marine life and indeed ecosystems. Reaching the sea by a variety of routes, whether dishwashing liquid down the drain, oily wastewater dumped<\/a> by tankers at sea, or even chemical-infused toilet paper<\/a>, their presence and potential impacts are far-reaching. Synthetic chemicals have now been found in the remote Arctic and deep ocean trenches<\/a>. Research by the EU suggests that 75% of the north-east Atlantic, 87% of the Mediterranean, and 96% of the Baltic Sea is contaminated<\/a> with synthetic substances and heavy metals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in a situation where more and more of these chemicals are being produced,\u201d Rogers says. When pharmaceuticals are included, the chemical industry is the world\u2019s second largest<\/a> manufacturing industry. As it continues churning out new varieties, scientists, campaigners and policymakers are asking with growing urgency: what exactly are these chemicals doing to the ocean \u2013 and to us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lack of data<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We actually know little about the impacts of most chemical pollutants on marine life. Understanding has been hampered by their mind-boggling diversity, complex makeup and variable properties. The growing sophistication of consumer goods means individual products are often manufactured using dozens of synthetic chemicals, making ocean impacts even trickier to untangle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An analysis in 2021 revealed that across some 130,000 studies on the ecological impacts of synthetics, just 65 chemicals<\/a> dominated the literature. Furthermore, there\u2019s no public information available on 120,000 of the 350,000 chemicals<\/a> produced worldwide. These data gaps were mentioned in a 2022 report<\/a> produced by Back to Blue, a joint initiative of the Economist and the Nippon Foundation. It was the first attempt to describe the scale of global ocean chemical pollution: \u201cWe had the realisation that we hadn\u2019t missed the data. It\u2019s just not there,\u201d says Jessica Brown, co-author of the report, and head of engagement at Back to Blue. \u201cWe travelled to the UN Ocean Conference last June, and one of the things that really struck us was that very few people were talking about any kind of pollution other than plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The little we do know about chemical pollution suggests its threat is far bigger than we realise. Of particular concern are persistent organic pollutants. \u201cPOPs\u201d cover a diversity of chemicals that include the likes of DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a group of compounds used as lubricants and coolants in electrical equipment until, like DDT, they were regulated in most countries. But the problem is that these chemicals, along with all other POPs, share two traits: persistence, and a tendency to accumulate in fatty tissues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the ocean, they\u2019re steadily \u201cbiomagnified\u201d up the food chain. Rogers explains: \u201cMany large predators are long-lived, and so as they\u2019re continuously feeding on contaminated prey, they\u2019re building up larger and larger concentrations of these toxic compounds in their own bodies.\u201d These chemicals have been linked to cancers, fertility problems, and other conditions. In the blubber of Europe\u2019s orca and bottlenose dolphins, PCBs have accumulated to such high levels that many animals have been left unable to breed, threatening the populations with extinction<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"orca<\/div>
Synthetic chemicals can move up the food chain, concentrating in the bodies of apex predators like orcas (Image: Alamy)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dozens of POPs are now banned under the Stockholm Convention<\/a>. But their persistence means that even long-banned chemicals like PCBs and DDT still circulate at \u201cworrisome levels,\u201d says John Stegeman, a marine toxicologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. It\u2019s the same problem with other POPs like per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Some PFAs were only banned under the convention in 2019. \u201cSo like PCBs they will be around for a long, long time,\u201d Stegeman says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By hitching a ride on highly buoyant rafts of plastic waste, POPs have now reached the far corners of the ocean. Meanwhile, the 14 million tons<\/a> of plastic that flood the ocean every year may itself also be morphing into a significant source of chemical pollution. \u201cWe have been working on industrial chemical pollution, many of us for over 20 years now,\u201d says Ninja Reineke, head of science at CHEM Trust, a UK\u2013German charity campaigning for better chemicals regulations. \u201cAnd then at some stage, plastic pollution became the hot topic. But many of the things we\u2019ve been concerned about for years are actually plastic additives<\/em>,\u201d Reineke says. These include PFAS, phthalates (plasticisers), and bisphenol A (BPA), which are infused into plastics to, among other things, make them water-repellent, flexible and clear. Such chemicals are endocrine disruptors<\/a> and have been found to affect<\/a> reproduction in molluscs, crustaceans, insects, fish and amphibians, and development in crustaceans and amphibians. They leach out of ocean plastic as it degrades. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot we don\u2019t know about that, but, overall, plastics are also a matter of chemical pollution,\u201d Stegeman adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Recommended<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/a>\n\n\n\n

The data on marine chemical pollutants is typically limited to the effects of certain chemicals on certain species. What they\u2019re doing at ecosystem scales is generally unknown. An exception is synthetic nitrogen fertilisers. When washed off farmland into the sea, these nutrient-rich chemical mixtures can trigger algal blooms. When the algae dies, the bacteria that break it down consume most of the oxygen in the water column, choking out marine life. This causes die-offs of fish, dolphins and seals<\/a>, leaving dead zones \u2013 some so large they can be seen from space. The recurring dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, caused by nutrient pollution flowing out of the Mississippi River, spans about 10,000 square kilometres<\/a>. It is thought to cost the US about $82 million<\/a> a year in lost fisheries and tourism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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\"Satellite<\/div>
A satellite image showing an algal bloom where the Mississippi River discharges nitrogen fertiliser into the Gulf of Mexico (Image: Phil Degginger \/ Alamy)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"waves<\/div>
These blooms create a recurring dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, which costs the US tens of millions of dollars each year in lost tourism and fishing (Image: Alamy)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Human health<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

That taps into a big unknown: the human health impact of all this chemical pollution flushing into the sea. Global estimates show that pollution in general \u2013 including by chemicals \u2013 caused up to nine million premature deaths<\/a> in 2019. Marine pollution mainly enters our bodies through seafood. As Stegeman points out, three billion or so people rely on marine species for protein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seafood may contain toxins from algal blooms, and potentially plastic-associated chemicals, according to a major recent report<\/a> into the health impact of plastics. There\u2019s also a risk of consuming mercury and PCBs that accumulate in fish. These chemicals can cause developmental problems in foetuses, and cardiovascular disease and dementia in adults, a recent literature review<\/a> found. The review, co-authored by Stegeman, explored the connection between rising ocean pollution and human health. It also found that coal-burning is a major source of mercury pollution in the ocean, having been carried there by the wind. Marine chemical pollution may even enter our bodies if we inhale particles suspended in sea spray<\/a>. \u201cThis is not just a story about the ocean but about us, because we are also exposed,\u201d says Rogers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem shows few signs of abating. The UN\u2019s 2019 Global Chemical Outlook estimated that sales of synthetic chemicals will likely double<\/a> by 2030. Unchecked production is fuelling increasingly unnecessary usage, Rogers believes. He recalls once seeing benzophenones \u2013 a chemical commonly found in sunscreens and known to kill young corals<\/a> \u2013 in a body wash, there to prevent the coloured gel within from losing its hue in sunlight. \u201cTo me this is a really trivial use of a chemical which is potentially harmful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists are also worried about the cocktail effect<\/a> of thousands of volatile chemicals mixing in the sea, and how this stew will react in our warming and acidifying ocean. \u201cThis is an issue that the scientific community has to come to grips with in order to really appreciate the magnitude of potential harm,\u201d Stegeman says. Meanwhile, production is moving to countries with less environmental regulation<\/a>, increasing the chances that pollution will reach the sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2022 study argued that chemical production has in fact already crossed the safe planetary threshold. \u201cThe rate at which these pollutants are appearing in the environment far exceeds the capacity of governments to assess the risk, let alone control potential problems,\u201d its authors wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who\u2019s in charge?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Can regulation help curb the spread? Currently, aspects of global chemical pollution are covered by a patchwork of voluntary initiatives<\/a>, agreements, national and state laws<\/a>, and treaties. The Basel<\/a>, Rotterdam<\/a> and Stockholm<\/a> conventions respectively control the dumping and the trade of hazardous wastes, and the production of certain chemical groups. Beyond these, there\u2019s the European Union\u2019s REACH legislation<\/a>, which, significantly, puts the burden of responsibility on chemical companies to check their safety before use, instead of leaving researchers and governments scrambling to do damage control once these chemicals have been released into the wild.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People are making vast quantities of money knocking out stuff that\u2019s causing long-term harm to our marine ecosystems<\/blockquote>Alex Rogers, marine ecologist at the University of Oxford<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen REACH was created, there was this feeling that [chemical production] is just getting out of control. We don\u2019t know enough about the uses, the properties even, and authorities shouldn\u2019t have to chase that all the time,\u201d says Reineke, whose organisation CHEM Trust has been advising on changes to the European law that would increase controls on endocrine-disrupting chemicals. They\u2019re also pushing for substances with similar properties to be systematically regulated in groups, rather than banned one-by-one. Individual banning is a slow process that can lead to \u201cregrettable substitution<\/a>\u201d, where a prohibited substance is simply replaced by a chemically similar version \u2013 \u201cjumping from the frying pan into the fire\u201d as Reineke puts it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another potential regulatory bright spot is the global plastics treaty<\/a> currently being negotiated through the UN. When countries meet in May for the next stage<\/a> of talks on what will go into the final treaty, one possibility on the agenda is reducing harmful additives and chemicals in plastics manufacturing. Promisingly, this legally binding treaty is likely to take a whole-lifecycle view of plastics and their environmental impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the relatively slow pace of legislative change means there may be limits to what top\u2013down regulation can achieve alone. \u201cSo much of the chemistry we\u2019re working with was designed 40 to 50 years ago, when health, safety and environment weren\u2019t part of the consideration,\u201d says Joel Tickner, professor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell Centre for Sustainable Production. Changing this will require foundational shifts in how chemicals are manufactured, and innovation to create substitutes that don\u2019t yet exist, he explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is where industry could play a role in escaping the toxic chemical bind. Tickner founded the Green Chemistry & Commerce Council<\/a>, a network of over 100 businesses working to develop chemicals that break down in the environment, for instance. In fact, safer alternatives already exist for many chemicals, according to Tickner; they just need routes into the market. \u201cThe renewable energy market \u2013 it\u2019s taken subsidisation to do it. We\u2019re going to have to subsidise the transition [to green chemistry].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curbing marine chemical pollution is a momentous problem that may ultimately require governments, industry and consumers to join forces. In the meantime, those barrels of DDT continue seeping on the Californian seafloor, a cautionary reminder of what awaits us if we don\u2019t act. \u201cPeople are making vast quantities of money knocking out stuff that\u2019s causing long-term harm to our marine ecosystems. Some of these chemicals are actually a contributory factor to extinction risk,\u201d Rogers says. \u201cSo, there\u2019s a whole moral aspect to this.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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