Plastics Pledge
The Problem
Since it was first mass produced in the 1950s, plastic has found its way into our oceans. Today plastic pollution in our seas is a global threat that damages marine ecosystems, harms and kills millions of marine animals, and is poised to affect human health.
The very attributes that make plastic so useful to humans — its durability, light weight and lack of decomposition — are huge liabilities for oceans and ocean life: polymers persist for decades, perhaps even hundreds of years, and 30 percent of plastic is able to float. This combination contributes to an accumulation of plastic in our oceans that is staggering.
The North Pacific Gyre, an area of the Pacific Ocean also known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, contains an estimated 150 million tons of plastic covering an area estimated to be twice the size of Texas.
In 1992 the EPA found that a majority of beaches around the world had some accumulation of plastic material, such as plastic pellets (from leaking shipping and train containers), plastic drums, polystyrene packaging, polyurethane foam pieces, fishing lines and nets, pens, lighters, tires, toothbrushes, and films (plastic bags).
In certain areas there is more plastic in the water by weight than zooplankton. This accounts for reports of a majority of all marine mammals and sea birds to have some amount of plastic in their digestive systems. According to the 2001 Marine Pollution Bulletin, there was six pounds of plastic floating in the North Pacific Gyre for every pound of naturally occurring zooplankton. These results were re-confirmed in 2002.
With its ability to absorb dangerous chemicals, plastic pollution may become a factor in human health. Plastic can absorb toxic non-water-soluble chemicals at extreme levels. Poisons such as POPs (persistent organic pollutants, like DDT and PCBs) and other oily pollutants are absorbed and concentrated by the plastic debris encircling our globe.
Once these fragments of plastic break down to such a size that some marine organisms mistake the debris as food, these toxins can be released into their living membranes. As such, these contaminants may be passed up the food web, potentially reaching our dinner plates. In effect, our poisons and debris may come back to us full circle.
Take action now by signing our plastics pledge.
