Plastic waste is still a threat to the sea

Image from the study on the comparison of microplastic capture with nets of different mesh sizes, by Penelope K. Lindinde.

Added to this fact, we find studies from the Institute of Environmental Diagnosis and Water Studies (IDAEA) of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) in which organophosphate compounds, chemicals used as plasticizers, have been found. (to give softness to the plastic) and flame retardants (with combustion inhibitory effect) in whales (Balaenoptera physalus) and krill from Iceland. These studies coincide with those conducted by the same research group on dolphins in the Alborán Sea in late 2019. These studies confirm that the damage that these materials cause goes beyond their physical impact.

Image from Centinelas Cantabria.

Finally, it is important to highlight the increasingly relevant emergence of surgical masks and plastic gloves on the Spanish coast. It has already been found on the Cantabrian coast. The use of these materials is essential for our health, but we must reject them in the most appropriate way to minimize or avoid the resulting impacts. We must continue to fight for the well-being of the environment and not leave out the marine environment.