Mystery as UK beaches plagued by plastic that looks EXACTLY like pebbles – and some contain deadly metals
A MYSTERIOUS new type of pollution is washing up on Britain’s beaches. Chunks of grey, rounded plastic resembling pebbles are littering the Cornish coast, and could be hiding in plain sight along beaches all over the world. Worse still, the hunks of pollution are thought to contain deadly metals such as lead. These can poison […]
A MYSTERIOUS new type of pollution is washing up on Britain’s beaches.
Chunks of grey, rounded plastic resembling pebbles are littering the Cornish coast, and could be hiding in plain sight along beaches all over the world.
Worse still, the hunks of pollution are thought to contain deadly metals such as lead.
These can poison fish and other sea creatures, potentially making their way up the food chain to humans.
One British scientist has been tracking the strange form of pollution along Cornwall’s Whitsand Bay.
Dr Andrew Turner, an environmental scientist at the University of Plymouth, says the lumps – known as pyroplastics – are formed when plastic is heated or melted.
They likely end up on British shores after they’re dumped into ocean from distant locations – likely areas where they burn their plastic waste en masse.
Over time, the singed wads are weathered in much the same way as rocks, whittled down by sand and sea to form round, grey blocks of waste.
“Pyroplastics are evidently formed from melting or burning of plastic,” Dr Turner and his team write in a paper about their findings.
“They are distinctly different from manufactured (primary and secondary) marine plastics in terms of origin, appearance and thickness.”
The Plymouth team analysed 165 chunks of pyroplastic collected from Cornwall beaches.
They showed the lumps were mostly made up of the plastics polyethylene, which makes up most plastic bags and packaging, and polypropylene, which is used for packaging and containers.
Scientists think the pebbles are pieces of plastic pollution that have been burned and dumped into the sea. They’re then gradually whittled down and turned grey by the ocean and windPyroplastics have already been found on beaches ranging from Scotland to Spain to British Columbia.
In the UK, it’s suspected that some of the junk may have floated across the English Channel from the island of Sark, near Guernsey.
Recent reports suggest waste is being burned and dumped at sea.
Because they look like rocks, it’s possible they’re washing up on beaches across the globe without anybody noticing.
“Since pyroplastics have been retrieved by colleagues from Atlantic beaches in Spain and Pacific beaches of Vancouver, they are not a regional phenomenon,” researchers wrote in their paper.
“It is suspected that their distribution may be widespread but that documentation is lacking because of a distinct appearance.”
Even more concerning is that researchers found traces of lead in the pyroplastics.
This hints at the presence of a chemical used to give plastics yellow or red colouring: Lead chromate.
Researchers warned that the lead could be absorbed by ocean wildlife and passed up the food chain, with potentially devastating consequences.
The research was published in Science of The Total Environment.
How you can help end plastic pollution
Here are ten tips from the WWF...
1) Carry a reusable coffee cup or flask
2) Avoid plastic straws where possible
3) Carry a spork or reuse your plastic forks and spoons
4) Use foil (which is recyclable) instead of cling film
5) Swap single-use plastic bottles for reusable alternatives
6) Use loose leaf tea with a tea strainer instead of teabags that are sealed with plastic
7) Quit the gum! Chewing gum (made from plastic itself) can be swapped for plastic free alternatives such as Glee or Chewsy
8) Use eco-friendly, biodegradable glitter instead of plastic-based glitter
9) Consider getting your milk delivered in glass bottles which are reused and recycled instead of your usual plastic pint
10) Choose wine bottles with natural cork stoppers instead of plastic stoppers
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