The Perils of Plastics: How Our Everyday Habits Impact Our World - Research Paper

Introduction

In my research paper, I will identify how the plastics are affecting our waters, drinking water, sources of food and also marine life. For the past half-century, vinyl has become an essential part of our day to day life, and it has become a necessary component of our lives in a variation of ways. We use plastics every day that is from the parts of a vehicle to toys, and from the grocery bags to furniture. Since plastic has been stated to be important stuff in the modern world, it has now been concluded that it has also become a material of enormous latent harm and devastation. Plastics are widely known, and it is biodegradable.

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This heightens the threat of persistent plastic waste for centuries and the future generations. During the research that was conducted by cotter, he said that many people in the world lob around 4 million of residues each day and 12.8% of it is plastics and thus contaminating water, land, and air (Cotter, Brennan 2019). The plastics that are thrown on the ground pollute the groundwater and the soil with destructive microorganism and chemicals, but the impacts of ocean contamination that are caused by the plastics are infinite.

Just like the pollution effects of plastics are experienced in oceanic regions and land, marine life has also started to be affected. The studies show that about 12.7 million heaps of plastic surplus are moved into the ocean annually (Cotter, Brennan 2019). According to the estimations done by the United Nations Environment Program, they suggest that there could be approximately 51 trillion microplastic elements are already disposed of in the ocean. The ship's oil and gas companies contribute to the disposal of plastics in the sea, but the main comes from the land due to poor management of waste dumping. According to research that was conducted by Ocean unite, it stated that around 80% of the aquatic plastic contamination comes from land-based sources (Vince, Joanna, and Britta 123-128). Another research that was conducted by Convention in 2012 about Biological Multiplicity, 663 species were reported to have been affected by marine wreckages (Avio, Carlo, Stefania, and Francesco 2-11).

The plastics in the ocean interferes with the natural environment of aquatic life. The trash in the sea interrupts the whole bio-geo cycle and thus leading to unsolicited hitches to the entire eco-system of marine life. The plastics in the sea is a threat to the aquatic plant and animals including the big mammals, amphibians and also the small fishes. The studies show that about 100,000 marine mammals and one million seabirds are killed every because of the digestion of plastics. Due to the present rates, by 2050 the plastic is predicted to overshadow all the fish. These killings are going to cause the extinction of many marine species.

When the aquatic creatures consume the plastics, they develop the digestive hitches, and most probably they are not treated. One of the essential resources that were captured by fishermen is the King Mackerel in North Eastern Brazil, and it has given evidence to prove that the digestion rates of plastics by the fish are 62.5% (Avio, Carlo, Stefania, and Francesco2-11). The effects of micro-plastics did not only raise a concern about the animals but also human health.

According to a research that was conducted by Center for Biological Diversity, it brought up results showing that in the North Pacific, the fish consume about 12,000 to 14,000 heaps of plastic annually (Haward, Marcus 667). For the past years, there have been many reports about deceased whales and other sea animals and their stomachs were found to be containing plastic wastes. This ingestion of plastics injures the intestines of the fish and lead to the death of the fish. A current study found out that about a quarter of fish at California markets comprehends plastics in their guzzlers in the form of plastic microfibers. The micro-plastics are an imminent threat to the more significant organisms such as the whales that are given to the micro-plastics digestion because of their filter-feeding action.

The risk continues to increase because of the food chain because the humans who feed on seafood also get affected if they find out that the fish are dead or they are being choked by the plastics consumed. In the year 1989, in the Islands of Lavezzi, a stranded sperm whale was found dead in Tyrrhenian because its stomach was blocked due to the consumption of '100 feet of plastic sheeting and plastic bags,' (Avio, Carlo, Stefania and Francesco 2-11).

The sea turtles always confuse the plastics that are floating on water with garbage food, and they end up consuming them. When they eat up the plastics, they get internal injuries, t get choked, or they can think that they are full because of consuming plastics and this can make them starve to death. Researchers came to find out that about parts of the sea turtles in the world always consume plastics causing the blockage of the gut and hence leading to death (Cotter, Brennan 2019).

Other reports showed that the plastic contamination is so prevalent on the seashores and this affects their reproduction (Haward, Marcus 667). The sea turtles are also victims of the stray plastics nets also known as the 'Ghost Nets'. These nets used for fishing cause oceanic destruction. These plastic trash cause injury to the aquatic life by getting snarled in precious mounds making them break up and by choking life forms.

About 100,000 seabirds consume plastic per year. According to many types of studies, 44% of all the species of seabirds together with sea turtles and cetaceans have been recorded to have plastic wreckages in their stomachs and also around their bodies. This shows how plastic junks being disposed of in the oceans to have augmented for the last 40 years. This percentage is prophesied to rise to 99% by 2050. The digestion of plastics decreases the volume of the stomach that is used to store food, and this can cause starvation.

At many times, these species suffer due to plastic consumption and suffocation, mostly the birds by merely being deceived the bright colors of plastic waste. The marine mammals consume and get snarled up in plastics wastes. Vast amounts of wreckages have been identified in the territory of unsympathetically threatened in the monk seals of Hawaii. The predicament in plastic fragments has also caused impermanence and damage in the vanishing Steller sea lion, with wrapping bands the most shared ensnaring material.

We human beings are also being affected by plastic pollution in the oceans when they consume the fish that have to ingest plastics. This is because the plastics contain a lot of elements which are dangerous to human health. When the activity of fishing is going on, most of the fish caught are infested with the hazardous components, and they might get into the household and thus causing health glitches to the last customers. Researchers have come into a conclusion that the toxins that are found in the plastics lead to many health problems, for example, defects during birth, cancer tumors and problems related to the immune system (Cotter, Brennan 2019). The development of pathogens in the water is stimulated by plastic trash being disposed of in the ocean. According to a recent study conducted by the Pew Researchers, they said that when the plastics and corals come into contact, there is 89% of constricting diseases, contrasted with the 4% of corals that do not come in to contact with the debris (LI, Wai, Tse, and Lincoln 333-349).

Conclusion

In conclusion, I hope I will gain more knowledge about the impacts of microplastics on marine and human life and also learn about how we can help to solve the plastic pollution on land and even in the oceans. If I get more understanding about the impacts of plastics, I can help to educate others about the negative consequences, and I hope they can reduce the disposal of plastics in the water. If no necessary action is taken, scientists said that by 2050, the plastics in the ocean would outweigh all the collective fish in the seas. The Center for Biological Diversity requested the U.S Environmental Protection Agency by appealing the regime to control plastics as a contaminant under the Clean Water Act (Stafford, Richard, and Peter 187-191).

Works Cited

Cotter, Brennan. "Ethical Problems with Plastic in the Ocean." (2019).

Haward, Marcus. "Plastic pollution of the world's seas and oceans as a contemporary challenge in ocean governance." Nature Communications 9.1 (2018): 667.

Vince, Joanna, and Britta Denise Hardesty. "Plastic pollution challenges in marine and coastal environments: from local to global governance." Restoration Ecology 25.1 (2017): 123-128.

Avio, Carlo Giacomo, Stefania Gorbi, and Francesco Regoli. "Plastics and microplastics in the oceans: From emerging pollutants to emerged threat." Marine environmental research128 (2017): 2-11.

LI, Wai Chin, H. F. Tse, and Lincoln FOK. "Plastic waste in the marine environment: A review of sources, occurrence, and effects." Science of the Total Environment 566 (2016): 333-349.

Stafford, Richard, and Peter JS Jones. "Viewpoint-Ocean plastic pollution: A convenient but distracting truth?." Marine Policy 103 (2019): 187-191.