Here is a UN Report just out:
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/10/1103692
Currently, plastic accounts for 85 per cent of all marine litter.
By 2040, it will nearly triple, adding 23-37 million metric tons of waste into the ocean per year. This means about 50kg of plastic per meter of coastline.
Because of this, all marine life, from plankton and shellfish; to birds, turtles and mammals; faces the grave risk of toxification, behavioral disorder, starvation and suffocation.
The human body is similarly vulnerable. Plastics are ingested through seafood, drinks and even common salt. They also penetrate the skin and are inhaled when suspended in the air.
In water sources, this type of pollution can cause hormonal changes, developmental disorders, reproductive abnormalities and even cancer.
****END of EXTRACT FROM REPORT****
PS: What the above UN Report does not talk about is the question “where else did the 5.3 million tons of plastics “discarded” between 1950 and 2017 get dumped ?” All only into the deep oceans? What about stuff that got dumped into fresh-water bodies nearer to human community like rivers and lakes? And how much into garbage land-fills that are even closer to human habitations ?
Sudarshan Madabushi