Hundreds of millions of containers criss-cross the ocean every year, so not everyone can reach their final destination. In the process, hundreds of cargo containers were lost at sea, and their cargo overflowed into the ocean. Although this is not the main source of ocean plastic pollution, it is estimated that more than 10,000 tons of plastic may enter the ocean in this way.
This year, an estimated 1,000 containers have fallen from the ship into the ocean, which is the highest peak of the industry in seven years. Heavier items tend to sink to the bottom of the sea, but lighter items (such as Nike shoes and bath toys) sometimes float. Thousands of tons of cargo have fallen overboard and washed away on the coastline far from the place where the order was placed, even in some remote areas.
Curious researchers at the University of Plymouth in the U.K. tracked the loss of these containers at sea, where the cargo eventually occurred and how the lost treasure was broken down into the environment. They used the power of social media to help study a plastic container containing thousands of HP cartridges, which fell into the North Atlantic north of New York in early 2014. Subsequently, these cartridges began to be washed away on about 2,000 beaches in the Azores. I left after a few months.
The new study, led by Andrew Turner, a professor of environmental sciences at the University of Plymouth, said it was the first study he knew of using social media to track the whereabouts of lost shipments.
When the media collected reports of people finding these plastic cartridges on British beaches, the researchers went to social media to see if they could develop a more comprehensive data set to understand the extent to which these cartridges were floating around the world. The researchers initiated a call in an international Facebook group dedicated to combing through people to send information about any ink cartridges they found flushed ashore.
In the four-year survey, 267 respondents found 1,467 plastic cartridges on the coast of the United Kingdom, the Canary Islands, Norway and even Florida. Turner said that the distribution of cartridges around the world is not surprising, because it is consistent with our understanding of the Atlantic circulation. These fragments were carried eastward by the main ocean currents, the Azores and Canary Islands ocean currents from where they fell. Around Britain and Ireland, the North Atlantic current caused bullets to fall on the west and south coastlines.
Research authors can also find some plastic boxes themselves and test them to see how quickly the plastics decompose in water. The cartridges are chalky and fragile, which means they start to fall apart and release microplastics. Unless cargo containing dangerous substances is dropped into a container, there is no requirement for ships to report, but careful inspection of these bullets shows that they have indeed decomposed and may release microplastic pollution containing iron, copper and titanium. The author points out that printer cartridges are not only plastic waste, but also electronic waste because they contain cuttings. The impact of e-waste on the marine ecosystem is still unclear.
Although the study revealed some insights about ocean current modeling and how electrons break down in the ocean, there is no way to put the wizard back into the bottle. He said that once the cargo is abandoned, “it may be too late to clean up”, “especially if it is not reported.” As we order more and more things from all over the world, this may lead to more and more ships. Loaded along the boat-more of our orders end up on the bottom of the sea or on the beach not far from our door.
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Post time: May-17-2021