There are five circulatory current systems in our oceans called gyres. Each gyre can be huge, the North Pacific gyre spans an area that is twice the size of the US. Floating items, such as plastic bottles, that are in a gyre current circulate around until they slowly find themselves moving to the centre.

 

In the ocean, this detritus acts like a sponge and soaks up toxins such as PCPs, pesticides and hydrocarbons, concentrating them within the plastic. While plastics in gyres don’t decompose, small pieces can break-off or fish can nibble at them. This leads to a spread of potentially highly toxic material throughout the oceans and into the food chains of animals and people who eat seafood. Hence there is a potential impact on the health of the human population. 

 

Cases of fish and turtles with plastic in their bodies are already well documented, however scientists are looking at the extent to which the toxins they contain are absorbed into tissues. That will indicate the extent to which the garbage in the ocean is potentially causing illness in animals and humans via the food chain.

 

There is no simple way to deal with the quantity of junk in our oceans. However, one of the things everyone can do is to use less plastic. Choose recyclable, biodegradable containers over plastic ones.

 

For more information on marine waste see http://5gyres.org from where much of the information in this article was sourced.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/beelal/3702555595