The five plastic islands larger than the Iberian peninsula cause serious damage to human health
- In the Atlantic Ocean, there are 580,000 pieces of plastic per square kilometer, according to the Sea Education Society, which brings together 80,000 people. Plastic pollution causes the deaths of more than 100,000 sea turtles and birds a year, according to the environmental area Eco Portal.
Experts call marine plastic sets “patches”. Five giant patches have been counted around the world. The Pacific Ocean is the largest in the north, with an area larger than the Iberian Peninsula and the French State. According to Achim Steiner, UN Director of Environmental Sciences in Erandio, uncontrolled plastic consumption results from: “We’re throwing rocks.” Last year ARGIA produced a report on plastic waste at sea.
According to a study by the SES Sea Education Society, there are 580,000 pieces of plastic in the Atlantic Ocean per square kilometer. Instead of directly harming humans, the most direct effects are those of marine animals. Every year more than 100,000 sea turtles and birds die from eating or chaining plastic.
It's known that plastic can cause cancer, but Rolf Halden, a researcher at the University of Arizona, says you can't know exactly how much it affects humans. “We are all infected, we don’t know what has affected us,” he says. Plastic takes years and years to break down, but it quickly removes toxins that spread in the water. The most common are mercury, cadmium and lead. According to environmental researchers, most of the animals in the ocean are contaminated with these toxins.
“We think it doesn’t affect us”
“We haven’t suffered plastic damage yet, and that’s why we don’t own the situation,” says Steiner at the UN. He has insisted on the need to care for nature because it can affect our health. Ask to reduce the consumption of plastic, buy as little as possible: “Each generates about 300 grams of plastic a day.” He says that every time you buy less, less waste will be generated.
The University of Arizona Halde is concerned about the environment. He said that it is possible to "develop awareness" of citizenship, but that it is impossible without a change of attitude from governments and, above all, from the UN. In Halde’s words, they are “afraid” that reality is as it is: “A great deal of work has been done in recent years in favour of the environment, but the public is not fully shown a reality.”
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