Plastic Oceans

How much plastic is in the ocean? 100 MILLION TONS OF PLASTIC IS THOUGHT TO BE FLOATING IN THE WORLD’S OCEANS. A TON=2,000 POUNDS, 12 MILLION ELEPHANT 124 MILLION COWS 1.5 BILLION 16-18 YEAR OLD TEENS 2.5 BILLION DOGS 22 billion cats 28 billion skate boards 200 billion shoes 600 billion boxes of crayons

Problems for wildlife Animals get entangled or caught in plastic and mistake it for food Over 100,000 marine mammals and one million seabirds die each year from ingesting or becoming entangled in plastic. About 44 percent of all seabirds eat plastic

Problems for wildlife continued… PLASTIC SPONGES:AS THE POTENTIAL TO TRANSFER TOXIC SUBSTANCES TO THE ~PLASTICS ALSO ACT AS CHEMICAL "SPONGES” ~"PLASTIC DEBRIS ACCUMULATES POLLUTANTS SUCH AS PCBS (POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS) UP TO 100,000 TO 1,000,000 TIMES THE LEVELS FOUND IN SEAWATER."- NOAA -OTHER POLLUTANTS INCLUDE: DDT, ORGANOCHLORINE PESTICIDES, BPA, PETROLEUM HYDROCARBONS PLASTIC DEGRADATION: ~PLASTIC CAN LEACH CHEMICALS INTO THE OCEAN WHEN IT DEGRADES ~ANIMALS EAT THE PLASTIC DEBRIS WITH CONTAMINATES AND THE DEGRADED “SLUDGE”

How Plastic Degrades Photodegrade vs Biodegrade -photodegrade= breaks down into smaller pieces when exposed to sunlight -biodegrade= breaks down into the molecular compounds

Problems of Degradation Most plastics photodegrade into smaller and smaller pieces, but never fully biodegrade As plastics degrade, it leaches chemicals into the ocean The animals that ingest the plastic or water also ingest these chemicals, leading to biomagnification

Bioaccumulation -How species take in chemicals from their environment - Bioaccumulation – “Bioaccumulation (or bioconcentration) is the uptake of organic compounds by biota [organisms] from either water or food. Many toxic organic chemicals attain concentrations in biota several orders of magnitude greater than their aqueous concentrations, and therefore, bioaccumulation poses a serious threat to both the biota of surface waters and the humans that feed on these surface- water species.” – Smith and others, 1988 -How species take in chemicals from their environment

Biomagnification Biomagnification - "Biomagnification is the sequence of processes in an ecosystem by which higher concentrations of a particular chemical are reached in organisms higher up the food chain, generally through a series of prey- predator relationships." - Oxford University, 2008 -How chemicals work their way up the food chain, and become more concentrated as they do

How does this affect us? These toxic chemicals make their way up the food chain to us...

Bisphenol A, BPA BPA is a plastic additive in clear, hard plastic and aluminum can lining Canada has deemed BPA a "toxic substance" , and European Union has banned it from baby bottles US is slowly following...

Effects of BPA on human and animal health: Disrupts the endocrine system endocrine system produces hormones has been linked to obesity, thyroid dysfunction, and cancer (just to name a few) Effects reproduction in animals and impairs development in crustaceans and amphibians Superfeminization in mollusks Superfeminization results in extra sex organs, enlarged accessory sex glands, extra eggs released outside of the normal spawning season,malformations of the pallial oviduct and an increase in female mortality

Solutions individual: on a larger scale: refuse plastic bags at the check-out counter – bring your own bag stop using bottled water – in most cases it is no safer than tap water clean up your local beach – many organizations host clean-up days where you can volunteer to pick up trash seek products without unnecessary packaging and support local farmers markets. keeping the conversation going is crucial to this issue – educate others on a larger scale: extended producer responsibility plastic bag ban

Extended Producer Responsibility majority of ocean litter is plastic packaging companies should be responsible for reduction, collection, and disposal of their packaging Europe and Canada have programs like these in place http://www.opc.ca.gov/webmaster/ftp/pdf/docs/Documents_Page/Resolutions/EPR%20resolution%20amended..pdf http://www.ccme.ca/assets/pdf/sp_strategy.pdf

Summary Plastic is made from petroleum, a non-renewable resource It is hard to find a product that has not been touched by plastic Plastic degrades to smaller and smaller pieces, creating plastic soup Pacific Garbage Patch is twice the size of Texas 100,000 marine mammals and one million seabirds die each year from ingesting or becoming entangled in plastic Toxic chemicals make their way up the food chain and onto our plates! We recommend a plastic bag ban for San Mateo County as a first step in reducing plastic debris in the ocean

BRACELETS 4 THE OCEAN

CREATE PICTURE FROM PUZZLES: http://tiny.cc/29ma4y