The perils of plastic pollutants

GIVEN the massive amounts of marine waste that was washed in by last year’s storms, people might be justified in thinking that there was little more of it left in the oceans.

However, a walk on a popular beach in the south-west at the weekend revealed quite an amount of ‘’fresh’’ plastic waste, including bottles, bigger containers and netting. And that’s not all. Experts tell us that some of the stuff is actually dumped at sea, but a good deal of it flows in, is thrown in, or just left on beaches and along the shorelines for the tides to take it out. And, there are still parents with the despicable habit of leaving, or burying, babies’ nappies in the sand.

Approximately 10-20 million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans each year, according to WorldWatch Institute, causing devastation to seabirds and fish and, ultimately, posing health risks for humans that consume the fish. There are also tiny microplastics, defined as litter, that come from personal care products such as soap and toothpaste, and end up in our waterways only to contaminate fish.