Plastic in fish, the Baltic Sea and oceans
By Marek Grzybowski
The impact of plastic pollution has reached an alarming level. Of the 369 million tons of plastic waste generated each year, about 11 million tons end up in the ocean. And the situation is not improving at all, despite orders, regulations and appeals. UNCTAD predicts that this number will triple by 2040.
– The consequences of plastic pollution have gained importance at all levels in the last few years, from individual consumers to national and international policymakers. Current trends are not conducive to reducing such pollution, on the contrary, as the global trend of plastic production is increasing – warn Nayanathara Thathsarani Pilapitiya, Amila Sandaruwan Ratnayake from Uva Wellassa University in Sri Lanka.
However, this is not a problem of recent years. Research by scientists from Sri Lanka shows that after 1910, man began to process crude oil into plastics on an incredible scale. Their use increased during periods of war and then during times of rampant consumerism.
UNCTAD only recently noted that “The situation is very worrying, as current levels of plastic waste are already damaging marine and terrestrial ecosystems, threatening human health as well as the food web.” What we are seeing is that plastics are dominating every aspect of human life and, of course, animal and plant life.
What we don’t see in fish?
What we don’t see is the fact that most plastic materials never disappear completely, but only disintegrate into smaller particles. These microparticles can be found everywhere, including in aquatic and terrestrial food systems. And it must be emphasized that the phenomenon is both global and local. It also concerns the Baltic Sea, as well as Polish water bodies and coasts.
– In 2017, samples of microplastics were collected in the waters of the Szczecin Lagoon and in the mouth of the Oder River. In addition, during the r/v Baltica cruise, sediment samples were collected at eight measurement stations located in the southern Baltic. The methodology for extracting microplastics from sediments and water was verified and a preliminary quantitative and qualitative analysis of the obtained research material was performed – informs Dr. Mariusz Zalewski, Department of Fisheries Oceanography and Marine Ecology on the website of the Sea Fisheries Institute about the research “Microplastics in the coastal waters of the southern Baltic Sea”.
Cooperation was established with the Laboratory of Nanostructure Physicochemistry of the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Warsaw, thanks to which a qualitative analysis of microplastic samples extracted from Baltic beach sediments was carried out. The analysis was carried out using IR microscopy (Thermo Scientific Nicolet iN10MX) with a detector enabling sample mapping.
It was then determined that in the examined sediment samples from the Polish coast, “the dominant type of microplastics were fibers (over 50% of identified objects), and on average 40% were microplastics classified as plastic fragments. The identified microplastics can be classified primarily as a secondary group resulting from the degradation of larger objects”.
In addition to consuming aquatic food contaminated with microplastics, nanoplastics can be absorbed by the tissues or cells of other food products, European scientists working under the auspices of SAPEA report on the results of their work. People are also exposed to microplastics by inhaling airborne particles and fibers found in indoor and outdoor environments.
Microplastics in 84% of drinking water
In addition, it is estimated that more than 84% of drinking water samples worldwide contain microplastics, according to the latest findings from the Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Pollution Programme (SMEP). This is the result of the ongoing demand for plastic products.
It is estimated that 369 million tons of plastics were sold in 2020 alone, representing a value of $1.2 trillion. This is a significant increase compared to the $933 billion spent on plastic products in the previous year. The ubiquity of plastics has pushed waste management to its limits. Although the business of waste management and reverse logistics is growing, it generates new costs related to the increased use of transport, labor and fuel costs. Long gone are the days when the same truck that brought milk in a bottle would take bottles to the bottling plant.
UNCTAD emphasizes that it is extremely important to determine what materials or products could successfully replace plastics and how to implement this transformation. It is emphasized that “many international efforts have been made to address the plastics problem, with most of them still focused on downstream strategies.”
There is a growing number of initiatives addressing and consequently stimulating changes in the entire life cycle of plastics towards a circular economy, including strategies to reduce resource consumption, as well as shifting materials towards plastic substitutes throughout the value chain.
For plastic substitution efforts to be successful, attention must be paid to the definition of what exactly a plastic substitute is. Plastic substitutes can be considered as all natural materials of mineral, plant, animal, marine or forest origin that have similar properties to plastics.
They do not include fossil or synthetic polymers, bioplastics and biodegradable plastics. Plastic substitutes should have a lower environmental impact throughout their life cycle (e.g. natural fibers, agricultural waste and other forms of biomass). They should be biodegradable/compostable or erodible, as appropriate, and suitable for reuse, recycling or proper waste disposal in accordance with national, regional or internationally agreed definitions. They may include by-products. Plastic substitutes should not be hazardous to humans, animals or plants.
Plastic in fish, yachts and offshore
The matter is not simple, because the continuous increase in plastic production means that a large amount of waste is accumulating in the terrestrial environment, because plastics are mainly produced, used and disposed of on land. Pilapitiya and Ratnayake point out that “agricultural plastics, such as foils from polytunnels, packaging and packaging materials, are widely available as plastic waste. These plastic particles break down into microplastics and can remain in the soil for up to 15 years”.
They also note a phenomenon that seems to be common in Poland. Illegal waste dumping and direct waste introduction increase the accumulation of plastic on land. Human/anthropogenic, wind (aeolian) and water (river) activities transport plastic waste. In addition to land, freshwater systems such as rivers, dams, lakes and urban drainage systems have been overtaken by plastic waste.
But here we need to pay attention to the seas and oceans. There are many videos on social media about fish, marine mammals, turtles entangled in plastic nets. Wooden yachts have disappeared from the seascape. Millions of yachts are moored in marinas, and their impact on the environment is not indifferent. The offshore industry uses plastics on a massive scale. All this means that microplastics appear in living creatures, including fish and the entire food chain of mammals, including humans. Even eating healthy food, we can be exposed to microplastics.
UNCTAD warns that “The annual cost of plastic pollution is estimated at $2.2 trillion, including $1.5 trillion in damage to the oceans, $695 billion in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and about $25 billion in land pollution.
In March 2022, the UN Environment Assembly adopted a resolution on plastic pollution, which calls on countries to promote plastic substitutes through national policy instruments. It is suggested that international efforts be made to further develop the Harmonized System.
The resolution emphasizes the promotion of plastic substitutes to not only reduce direct environmental impacts such as ocean pollution, but also encourage innovation, ocean and circular economies, and new industrial capacities, particularly in developing countries.
Plastic pollution has a negative impact on countries’ economies because it affects the ability to create jobs and income in areas dependent on clean ecosystems, such as tourism and fisheries. Governments face significant and increasing costs in dealing with plastic waste in already overburdened infrastructure.
Sewer systems can become clogged with plastic, increasing the risk and intensity of flooding. Plastic waste in ports and at sea can clog the cooling systems of ships and yachts, offshore platforms, marine structures and cause breakdowns. Macro and micro plastics are therefore a threat to people and marine equipment.