Lobster Dieoffs Linked to Chemicals in Plastics

Waterborne chemicals leached from plastics and detergents, including bisphenol A (BPA), may have contributed to significant lobster die-offs in the waters of Long Island Sound over the last decade, researchers say. As many as half of the lobsters tested in areas where lobster populations have plunged showed high levels of alkylphenols, a group of chemicals

derived from detergents, paints, and plastics, according to researchers at the University of Connecticut.

Those chemicals interfere with hormones crucial to the growth of young lobsters, doubling the time it takes for lobsters to molt their shells and create new hard shells, and making them more susceptible to disease, said Hans Laufer, a research professor in the university’s Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology.

The lobsters are consuming these chemicals with their food, including mollusks that filter the chemicals from the water. Lobster shell disease has caused a large drop in lobster populations since the late-1990s in the Sound, with the annual Connecticut lobster catch plummeting to about one-sixth of 1998 levels.

Aside from being a concern for the fisheries industry, Laufer also thinks that alkylphenol contamination is a serious threat to human health. About 90 percent of the U.S. population are also contaminated with alkylphenols, which in some cases — such as BPA — have been shown to affect human reproduction.

How our daily lives alter oceans.

By Jaymi Heimbuch

San Francisco, CA | Mon Jul 19, 2010 08:35

No matter where we live, even if we're in the middle of the Mojave desert or the middle of farmland in the mid-west, our connection to the ocean is surprisingly direct. The planet's marine systems are intricately linked with our daily activities, even when those activities seem trivial or distant. Here are five ways small choices add up to big problems for the ocean's health.

1) Carbon Emissions and Ocean Acidification

Every time we flip on the lights, turn on the water faucet, charge a cell phone, hop a plane or in any other way create carbon emissions, we're directly causing the acidification of the ocean and the harmful disruption of marine life that results. The ocean can absorb about two-thirds of the carbon emissions in the atmosphere, but the more CO2 it tries to absorb, the more acidic it becomes. This altered pH causes everything from the softening or thickening of crustacean shells to the bleaching of corals to the overabundance of jellyfish. As we pump more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels, ocean acidification worsens and marine life is being thrown out of whack.

Decisions like skipping an unnecessary plane ride, eating less meat, and buying green power can radically reduce your carbon footprint, and help alleviate one of the biggest threats facing our oceans.

2) Packaging and the Pacific Garbage Patch

Americans generate a lot of trash. Each of us tosses about 185 pounds of plastic per year, a vast amount of it from packaging. From plastic bags, to take-out containers, to packaging used for everything from toys to food, we use up and throw out an incredible amount of something that will never, ever disappear. In fact, much of it is making re-appearances in our oceans. The Pacific Garbage Patch and four other trash vortexes illustrate the problem of plastics in our oceans. Plastics are not only killing marine life, but also entering the food chain to ultimately end up on our dinner plates through the seafood we eat.

By making purchases that take into account the packaging of the products, and choosing to a) minimize as much as possible how much packaging we consume and b) recycling as much of what we do end up consuming as possible, we can make big strides in stopping the flow of plastic into the ocean.

WATCH VIDEOS: Protecting Our Oceans

3) Sushi Dinner and Disappearing Seafood

Our fisheries that once seemed endless are now reaching the brink of collapse. Scientists estimate that if our current practices continue, 100% of global fisheries will completely collapse by 2050. That is a very short time from now. Even if you think of yourself as a sushi addict in the worst way, or can't seem to live without salmon or shrimp a couple times a week, you can still make sustainable choices.

By cutting back where you can, keeping an eye on the Monterey Bay Aquarium Sustainable Seafood Guide, and taking advantage of handy techy tools for buying fish, you can help ensure that our seas will have fish in the future.

4) Over-Consumption and Whale Deaths

Wait, ordering that toy from Amazon.com could cause whale deaths? The short answer is yes. While humans have been sailing the seas for millennia, the shipping industry has skyrocketed over the last few decades. Much of that is due to our rabid consumption habits. Raw materials are transported on container ships to manufacturing plants, and products are then loaded up on ships to be transported to the hands of consumers. The more stuff we consume, the more stuff needs to be shipped across oceans. But crossing paths with those container ships and carrier vessels are whales.

The loud sounds of ships -- or acoustic smog -- makes it hard for whales to communicate with one another, which means heightened stress levels and decreased opportunities for mating and feeding, among other consequences. Even worse, collision with ships is a major problem for whales, including threatened and endangered species.

Reducing our consumption of material goods can literally help threatened whale populations recover.

5) Driving and Deep-water Oil Wells

Unless you've been living far, far away from any media source, you're probably well aware of the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico thanks to Deepwater Horizon, a BP-owned offshore oil rig that has been leaking since late April. It takes just the tiniest leap of logic to connect our reliance on oil to our car-dependent culture. Currently the US uses about 19.7 million barrels of oil a day, of which 71% goes to transportation via cars, trucks, buses, airplanes. So, the longer we stay reliant on fossil-fuel powered vehicles to get from point A to point B, rather than bikes and public transportation, the longer we stay dependent on drilling for those rapidly diminishing fossil fuels, which means a high likelihood of risky wells placed in deep water areas of the ocean and the statistically inevitable occurrence of another disaster like the one playing out in the Gulf of Mexico .

Minimizing our reliance on oil equates to keeping our oceans safe from deadly pollution.

Another Garbage Patch?

Another Garbage Patch?! Exploration across the South Atlantic Gyre

By the end of this year, the worldwide annual production of plastics will surpass 300 million tons. More than one-third of this production of plastics is for disposable items, and therefore has a very short useful lifespan on timescales of seconds, minutes, or hours (throwaway cups, straws, plastic bags). However, once discarded into the environment they will last for hundreds, thousands, or millions of years. By the end of this year, the worldwide annual production of plastics will surpass 300 million tons and accounts for 8% of the world oil production. Plastic pollution of varying sizes is found to pollute the oceans from the equator to the poles and the list of wildlife affected by this discarded debris is long and includes seabirds, seals, whales and turtles. (Barnes et al., 2009; Gregory, 2009; Halden, 2010; Hopewell et al., 2009; Thompson et al., 2009)

In November of 2010, I will set sail with the non-profit organization 5Gyres from Rio de Janiero in South America to Cape Town on the tip of South Africa. The goal of this journey is to seek the existence of another "Garbage Patch." My goal in this journey is to use scientific research to look for adverse effects to the ocean as well as its inhabitants from the discarded plastic trash that currently swirls in waters across the globe. To this day, 5Gyres has set sail across the middle of the North and South Pacific, the North Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean. In each of these subtropical gyres (or large circular current patterns) they have found an accumulation of lost plastic debris at sea. The South Atlantic is their last victim, and we are proposing to tackle it in four weeks of exploration on the open sea!

I am extremely thankful to have been invited upon this journey with Anna Cummins and Marcus Eriksen of 5Gyres. This organization is extremely dedicated to better understanding this serious global environmental issue, finding solutions and educating millions about the ocean and it's plastic pollution. This experience will provide me with an excellent opportunity to conduct exciting scientific research, benefit from an amazing educational adventure, and help share my knowledge with the world so that we all can make a difference. What interests me most about this problem of plastics in the environment is the impacts on marine life. There are so many amazing creatures in the sea that are undeserving of living in a glorified landfill. Plastics in the ocean can affect these creatures in two ways: mechanical and chemical. What I plan to research is the chemical aspect, where this plastic can deliver toxins to the animal by leaching into the water or into the organism upon ingestion when mistaken for food. On this journey I will work as hard as I can to capture a better understanding of this issue so that we can begin to effectively tackle the problem. During the entire journey I will be collecting samples and running analyses on top of helping man the 9-person sailboat!

When I return, I promise to use my knowledge for the greater good by submitting for publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals as well as offer public lectures and work to inform policy. I am willing to dedicate my career to finding solutions to this problem, here is why I am asking for help from you:

5Gyres has offered to pay for my trip which will cost about $5000. Supplies for my research will be scavenged from grants and university funding that I have received or am applying for. What I am missing is my plane ticket to get to Brazil (~$950) and to get home from South Africa (~$1200). I am asking for enough money to cover my flight as well as carbon offset credits ($200). My goal is to raise $2,350 in order to accomplish this goal. Any funding over the goal will be happily received and used for sample analyses. Any help is greatly appreciated and I will reward those who can help pitch in for a cleaner ocean!