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From Sea to Plate: Pollution of the Marine Environment and Food Safety in International and EU Law
Published in Stefania Negri, Environmental Health in International and EU Law, 2019
Other provisions of the LOSC focus on the issue of the adoption of laws, rules and standards by flag states, coastal states and port states to prevent, reduce and control the various forms of marine pollution.18 According to the treaty, there are six types of marine pollution, namely: pollution caused by human land-based activities; pollution from installations and devices used in the exploration or exploitation of natural resources of the seabed and subsoil and that are under national sovereignty and jurisdiction; pollution from activities carried out in the Area, i.e. the seabed and ocean floor beyond the limits of national jurisdiction; pollution from dumping; pollution from vessels; and pollution caused by the release of toxic, harmful or noxious substances from or through the atmosphere.19 Each of these types of pollution poses a clear threat to marine environmental health and, furthermore, can negatively impact human food safety, which could be affected by the seas’ and oceans’ health status at any given time.20
Global environmental change and health
Published in Kevin McCracken, David R. Phillips, Global Health, 2017
Kevin McCracken, David R. Phillips
Brief reference has been made in earlier parts of this chapter to changes to the world's oceans and their health impacts: for example, rising sea levels, land inundation, coastal marine pollution, seafood contamination. The magnitude and importance of anthropogenic ocean changes and the implications for human health, however, are far greater than this (National Research Council, 1999). Oceans around the world are undergoing unprecedented changes caused by a variety of human impacts. In a recent global study of seventeen anthropogenic drivers of ecological change for twenty ocean ecosystem types, it was found that no area is unaffected by human influence and that a large proportion (41 per cent) is strongly affected by multiple drivers (Halpern et al., 2008). The most seriously damaged waters include the North Sea, the South and East China Seas, the Caribbean Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Bering Sea, several parts of the Western Pacific, and the east coast of North America.
Environment
Published in Pamela Mason, Tim Lang, Sustainable Diets, 2017
Second, agricultural practices, coastal tourism, port and harbour developments, damming of rivers, urban development and construction, mining, fisheries, aquaculture and manufacturing, among others, are all sources of marine pollution threatening coastal and marine habitats. Third, excessive nutrients from sewage outfalls and agricultural runoff have contributed to the number of low oxygen (hypoxic) areas, known as dead zones, where most marine life cannot survive, resulting in the collapse of some ecosystems. There are now close to 500 dead zones covering more than 245,000 km² globally, equivalent to the surface of the United Kingdom. Fourth, increase in atmospheric CO2 is resulting in acidification of the sea. Ocean acidification is corrosive to coral reefs and the shells of many marine organisms and may also threaten plankton, which is key to the survival of larger fish. Fifth, ocean warming is having pronounced impacts on the physiology, composition and distribution of marine species.127 Many tropical regions are expected to have a large reduction in their maximum catch by 2050 whereas higher latitude regions may gain.128,129 Sixth, removal of mangroves and other coastal systems such as salt marshes and sea grass meadows has led to loss of critical marine habitats (contributing to the devastating effects of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on Sri Lanka, for example). These coastal systems have the ability to sequester carbon at rates up to 50 times those of the same area of tropical forest. Total carbon deposits in these coastal systems may be up to five times the carbon stored in tropical forests. The ocean has been shielding the earth from the worst effects of rapid climate change by absorbing excess CO2 but this is driving the damaging trio of acidification, warming and deoxygenation, which are increased by the effects of other human impacts, such as pollution, eutrophication and overfishing.130
Menstrual Stigma Rearticulated as Environmental Pollution in Contemporary Scottish Policy-Making
Published in Women's Reproductive Health, 2023
This attention to visibility is in part due to the touristic and therefore economic capital associated with a beach perceived as clean. There is good evidence from beach clean reports to support the fact that menstrual waste is a problem on UK beaches, with Scotland being disproportionately affected (cf. European Commission, 2018, part 1, p. 8; Marine Conservation Society, 2021). Harris et al. (2021) argue that such citizen science data relying on visual evidence on beaches to determine the scale of marine pollution is problematic from an academic perspective: Perhaps most significantly, it ignores the exponentially greater volume of marine plastic pollution on a microscopic level not discernible to the unaided human eye (European Commission, 2018, part 1, p. 10). At least in part, the focus on single-use menstrual products visible on the beach echoes the concealment imperative for menstrual products in public spaces as much as more scientifically sound environmental concerns.
Preparation and evaluation of polyphenol derivatives as potent antifouling agents: addition of a side chain affects the biological activity of polyphenols
Published in Biofouling, 2022
Xuan Wang, Xiaohui Jiang, Liangmin Yu
Marine pollution levels have increased substantially over the past few decades, which have caused major changes in partial sea area environments, and the levels are continuing to increase (Zhang et al. 2014; Hahladakis 2020; Liberti et al. 2020; Peng et al. 2020). The coatings on ships’ hulls, aquaculture cages, and other marine installations are also important factors in the destruction of marine ecosystems (Carteau et al. 2014; Zhang et al. 2015; Hunsucker et al. 2019). The surface of any structure immersed in seawater adsorbs a layer of organics and forms a conditioning film; later, fouling microorganisms, such as bacteria, adhere to and form microbial biofilms (Slate et al. 2019; Elshaarawy et al. 2020; Jin et al. 2020; Li et al. 2020). Gram-negative bacteria are more dominant in seawater, and Gram-positive bacteria are more common in seabed sediments (Altunoz et al. 2020; Escobar-Muciño et al. 2020; Ni et al. 2020; Sayedin et al. 2020; Xie et al. 2020). Finally, fungi, algae, larvae and spores of macrofouling organisms attach onto biofilms and develop a complex biofouling community (Moodie et al. 2017; Dobretsov and Rittschof 2020). Based on laboratory research, easy-to-cultivate and common marine microorganisms are often used as subjects for antifouling (AF) experiments, while marine field experiments are needed to confirm the laboratory results (Chen et al. 2017; Protasov et al. 2017; Lu et al. 2018; Qiu et al. 2018).
Going thirsty for the turtles: Plastic straw bans, people with swallowing disability, and Sustainable Development Goal 14, Life Below Water
Published in International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 2023
Bronwyn Hemsley, Simon Darcy, Fiona Given, Brad R. Murray, Susan Balandin
Reducing the impacts of single use plastics on the world’s oceans and marine biodiversity is consistent with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) life below water (SDG 14) and has implications for the goal good health and well-being (SDG 3) (United Nations, 2015). SDG 14 seeks to prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds from land-based activities, and to protect marine ecosystems to avoid significant adverse events. Reducing the production and use of plastic straws is expected to “decrease litter, protect the environment, and contribute to on-going circular economy initiatives” (Roy et al., 2021, p. 5). One strategy for reducing plastic waste, in nations and institutions globally, is to ban single use plastics, including plastic straws (Jenks & Obringer, 2020; Neto et al., 2021). In a report on the legal limits on single-use plastics and microplastics globally, the United Nations (2018, p. 3) noted that “27 countries have enacted legislation banning either specific products (e.g. plates, cups, straws, packaging), materials (e.g. polystyrene) or production levels.” At the time of writing, bans impacting plastic straws are proposed or in force in many countries, including Britain, Canada, Costa Rica, China, Dominica, Japan, Portugal, South Africa, Japan, and the European Union (Chitaka, 2021; United Nations, 2018; Wang et al., 2022) along with Vanuatu, France, and several states of Australia. However, plastic straws, which are designed to be used once and discarded, contribute only a fraction (∼1–4%, Chang & Tan, 2021; Roy et al., 2021) of plastic waste to the full scale of plastic pollution in the ocean (∼150 million tons annually, Roy et al., 2021). In this context, and despite their relatively smaller contribution to overall marine pollution, plastic straws have become an environmental issue with which to drive marine biodiversity conservation.