How Does Human Health Expose to Harsh Ocean Reality?

The ocean plays a submissive, calm, and crucial role as her embellishment covering nearly three-fourth portion of the Earth’s surface around the globe. Almost 97 percent of the Earth’s water supply is stored in the Ocean, and marine plants surprisingly generate 70 percent of our oxygen. Furthermore, Ocean absorbs nearly 30 percent of the carbon emission born by humankind. Although we may believe it or not, the Ocean plays a vital part in human health consequences in our day-to-day lives. In contrast, Humans is deteriorating Ocean’s health in a malignant manner and facing unprecedented challenges for her survival. We are turning the Ocean into the most prominent “Dumping Ground.” According to a report, Ocean health is intricately linked to human health. But the link between them (Ocean pollution and Human Health) has been understated until now. 

Philip Landrigan led recent research and the results published in the journals of Global Health in 2020, emphasizes the connection between marine pollution and human health by anticipating the very first far-reaching assessment of the diversified impacts of ocean pollution on human health. Despite human interest in environmental issues at their peak, ocean health is not improving but rather worsening.  

 

Unexpectedly, there remain many factors behind polluting this ‘salt chuck’ as humans produce wastes fiercely by agricultural runoff, fertilizer, pesticides, producing industrial wastes, manufactured chemicals, plastics, pesticides, sewage, toxic metals and a gigantic portion of them may end up oceans. 

Humans produce different kinds of waste, such as agricultural runoff, industrial waste, fertilizers, manufactured chemicals, pharmaceutical chemicals, pesticides, petroleum, plastics, sewage, toxic metals, and urban waste, a large portion of which end up in our oceans and contribute to ocean pollution. Research has found around 80 percent of these pollutants enter the Ocean from land-based sources via rivers, runoff, deposition from the atmosphere, and dumping.

Here, some of the distinct types of ocean pollution specifically impact human health is highlighted- 

 

‘Plastic pollution’- the swirling poisonous soup:

Plastics are everywhere, and we cannot think of a single day with them. But do you know That one plastic bottle takes about 450 years to be broken down in the ground? Surprisingly, a plastic cup can take 50 - 80 years to decompose. Moreover, 11% of household waste is plastic, and 40% of it is plastic bottles. Data has shown that 13 billion plastic bottles are disposed of each year. Plastic bags and other plastic garbage is thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1 million sea creatures every year. It is also estimated that 14 billion pounds of trash, where much of them are plastics, are dumped in the world’s Ocean. We make enough plastic film to shrink-wrap the whole Ocean. Indeed, the most shocking is that nearly every piece of plastic ever made still exists today (http://theplastiki.com) and remains in the form of microplastic. These nanoparticles are heavily concentrated in the Ocean, as recent studies found 60 times more than 15 years ago. 

Microplastic’s presence in the environment, especially in the Ocean, has a significant deadly threat to human health. Researchers have found that these tiny particles have an immense link with reduced fertility, psychological illness, congenital disabilities, and many cancerous diseases. Studies have found that microplastics enter the food chain because marine wildlife can easily mistake plastic bags for food as floating in the ocean look similar to zooplankton or jellyfish. When we ingest seafood, we consume a large number of microplastics with it. Researchers at Arizona State University have found that 100% of human tissues they sampled showed traces of microplastics entering the human body. Microplastic exposure will lead to more prevalent diseases and illnesses if we still don’t take any measures.

 

‘Mercury pollution’- From factory to stomach:

Among all pollutants, Mercury has crossed all the boundaries and playing its direst role subsequently. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has claimed that coal and oil-fired power plants are the most significant industrial source of mercury pollution. 

Coal naturally contains Mercury. As a result, Mercury is released into the atmosphere when it is burned. In due course, it ends up in bodies of water and accumulates in the deepest part of the sea. This poisonous substance is then eventually absorbed by organisms at the bottom of the food chain. As bigger fish eat bigger fish, it works its way back up the food chain right to us, most notably in the form of a meal that enters our stomach.

It proved that Mercury causes damage to our nervous system, brain, and other organs as it is a neurotoxin. Its exposure has been shown to increase a person’s risk of dementia and heart disease. This is not the end. In-utero exposure to the chemical has been shown to cause neurodevelopmental damage that reduces IQ and increases the risk of developing autism, ADHD, and other learning disorders.

 

‘Ocean Acidification’- The knock-on effect of pH:

Our oceans are the gigantic ‘carbon sink’ that absorbs one-fourth of the total carbon dioxide produced by human activities every year. Moreover, they have saved us from even rapid climate change. Ocean acidification is now often been called the evil twin of ‘Global warming.' The acidic carbonic acid is formed when the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide. This phenomenon changes the sea surface chemistry, disrupts the pH balance that millions of organisms are relied on, and most importantly, billions of people who depend for food and survival on the oceans. 

It is a matter of concern that ocean water is 30 percent more acidic on average than it was hundreds of years back since the Industrial Revolution.

“The osteoporosis of the sea”( https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/the-flames-of-ocean-acidity/), as some are calling it, is a clear threat to animals like oysters, mussels, clams, corals, and tiny marine snails called pteropods that use calcium carbonate to form their protective shells and skeletons. But it’s not only the little animals that are affected. An increase in ocean pH levels is now a substantial threat to marine biodiversity, fisheries, food security, and marine tourism as well. NCBI has anticipated ocean acidification to modify the abundance and chemical composition of toxic algal blooms that accelerates shellfish toxicity and ultimately affects human health in a wrong way.

 

Oil spills- The dreadful Polluter of Ocean:

The number of petroleum products rose from 500 million tons to over 2500 million tons and this rapid increase happened only a short period (1950-mid 1990s). This massive production has resulted in colossal transportation and associated unwanted oil spills in the Ocean.

 

The surprising fact is that oil accounts for over half a ton of all sea cargoes. Approximately 706 million gallons of waste oil enter the ocean every year. Half of the percentage comes from land drainage, and waste disposal; 8 percent from offshore drilling, oil spills, or leaks from tankers; and the remaining portion comes from routine maintenance of ships and hydrocarbon particles from onshore air pollution is natural seepage from the seafloor.

Public health impacts are now increasing at an alarming rate that can’t be ignored. Some of the deadliest effects include illnesses caused by toxic fumes or by eating contaminated fish or shellfish. Other obvious health concerns include losses and disruptions of commercial and recreational fisheries, seaweed harvesting, boating, and various uses of polluted water.

 

What should we do now?

The evidence highlights the most crucial link between ocean health and human health. Humans contribute a significant amount of pollution to our oceans, negatively impacting human health.

It is often said that prevention is better than cure. Following this proverb, implementing effective strategies to prevent and reduce ocean pollution will be critical to saving humankind. 

We can reduce our household carbon footprints by supporting cleaner energy that can help more significantly. Moreover, we can opt for reusable bottles and utensils to combat plastic pollution. We must be careful about the disposal of plastic trashes that they don’t end up in the Ocean. In outdoor spaces like beaches or parks, trashes should be disposed of in proper secure places. These more minor changes in habits can result in a significant contribution. 

 

Nishat Tasnim 
Jashore University of Science and Technology

Department of Environmental Science and Technology