The problem of plastic
The problem of plastic
- Video about the problem of plastic in marine fauna
Plastic fragmentation (Nu2, n.d.) and potentially the microplastics (Nocetti, 2018), are a problem for health, because it is bad for ecosystems (Bogotanitos, n.d.), for example, there are marine animals that are trapped in bags or confuse the fragments of plastic with food. Apart from the difficulty to move or the problems to feed themselves that these polymers (Guisasola, 2018) can provoke, there are also certain components at a chemical (Dotto, 2014) level that can be harmful to wildlife in general, this includes humans. Although several marine species confuse plastics with food, among the most serious cases, is that of turtles (Dasgupta, 2018) since these, like other species, as a whales (Zachos, 2018), feed on this material by confusing them with different foods, such as, the bags and the similar appearance they have with jellyfish, when consuming these fragments, the animals end up died due to obstruction of their digestive system and sometimes the amount of plastic is so much that they only stay afloat and cannot sink to find their food (Aizen, 2015). There are also other types of problems due to this contamination, one is that turtles, like fish and other species, are trapped in nets that are thrown into the sea as garbage. Among the toxic substances that plastic has the property of attracting and accumulating are the BPA (Dotto, 2014), DDT and PCB (El Plástico Mata, s.f.) that can cause problems in the nervous system and other damage to animals and humans (Profesor Molina, n.d.). It should be noted that a worm has been discovered, in addition to bacteria and fungi capable of degrading plastic (Nocetti, 2018), although, to date, it is necessary to apply it at the industrial level to decontaminate the oceans.
Great pacific garbage patch and ocean currentsBoyan
Slat [CC0]
References:
Aizen, M. (2015). "El plástico, una amenaza para las tortugas". En Clarín. Recuperado de https://www.clarin.com/cambio-climatico/tortugas-plastico-oceanos_0_H1m_Y7YwXg.html.
Bogotanitos. (s.f.). El plástico, ¿un problema ambiental?. Recuperado de https://www.culturarecreacionydeporte.gov.co/es/bogotanitos/biodiverciudad/el-plastico-un-problema-ambiental
Dasgupta, S. (2018). "How much plastic is too much plastic for sea turtles? [¿Cuánto plástico es demasiado plástico para las tortugas marinas?] (Romina Castagnino, trad.)" En Mongabay Latam. Recuperado de https://es.mongabay.com/2018/11/oceanos-tortugas-marinas-plastico/
Dotto, J. (2014). "Cómo afecta el plástico a la salud". En Rouge. Recuperado de http://rouge.perfil.com/2014-09-17-52999-como-afecta-el-plastico-a-la-salud/
El Plástico Mata. (s.f.). Playas y océanos de plástico. Recuperado de http://elplasticomata.com/oceanos-y-playas-de-plastico/
Guisasola, M. (2018). "Plásticos: ¿cómo afectan a tu salud?". En Mujer Hoy. Recuperado de https://www.mujerhoy.com/vivir/salud/201807/02/plasticos-como-afectan-salud-rev-20180702085248.html
Nocetti, F.A. (2018). "Microplásticos, bacterias y hongos". En NabbuBlog. Recuperado de http://nabbublog.blogspot.com/2018/11/microplasticos-bacterias-y-hongos.html
Nu2. (s.f.). El problema del plástico. Recuperado de http://nu2.es/listas/reportajes/el-problema-del-plastico/
Profesor Molina. (s.f.). ¿Qué es el PCB?. Recuperado de http://profesormolina.com.ar/electromec/pcb.htm
Zachos, E. (2018). "Muere ballena que había ingerido más de 7 kilogramos de plástico". En National Geographic. Recuperado de https://www.nationalgeographicla.com/planeta-o-plastico/2018/06/muere-ballena-que-habia-ingerido-mas-de-7-kilogramos-de-plastico
How to cite this article:
Nocetti, F.A. (2018). "The problem of plastic". In NabbuBlog. Retrieved from http://nabbublog.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-problem-of-plastic.html