View Full Version : Appalled
Not often I am actually shocked or surprised by how crap things are, but here we go......
At the weekend Chris and I were involved in a beach clenaup at Crammond Beach. From a distance the beach looked okay and on the cleanup we were confronted with most of the usual pleasant subjects, general trash, plastic, paper, rope, santiary products that didn't look very sanitary, cotton buds, shotgun cartridges and surprisingly not used condoms or needles. Most of this is fairly unpleasant, but typical of a beach with no regular cleanup when you look closely.
The bit that got me was in amongst the sand when you looked closely were hundreds and thousands of little plastic pellets. On a casual walk by you would never notice them, but up close they were everywhere. Apparently they are loaded onto tankers up the forth and some spill over. In the normal course of things they are melted down and used to make plastic stuff with. Compared to large, but otherwise inert stuff like tyres, these seem much more insidious and can be eaten by virtually anything. Not sure how harmful they are as they look pretty inert, but probably not in the good for you category.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y3/BillBusRammer/IMG_4380.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y3/BillBusRammer/IMG_4379.jpg
dive granny
16-04-07, 22:30
They do look a bit unsavoury! They could be eaten by kids or dogs or swallowed by fish perhaps:( Not good anyway.
The guy from the beach clean up group reckoned that they are in the stomachs of almost all dead sea birds in the area :eek:
Perhaps this should be reported to SEPA? In fact, i'm sure that it should be.
I totally agree! It's outrageous!
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
they look like polypropylene pellets. all details should be reported to SEPA.
Major:mad:
They are plastic, and they could have been there for years.
SEPA would know about them, whether they have actually done anything about it is another is another question.
They are plastic, and they could have been there for years.
SEPA would know about them, whether they have actually done anything about it is another is another question.
Plastic resin pellets (small granules 0.1-0.5 centimeters in diameter) are widely distributed in the ocean all over the world. They are an industrial raw material for the plastic industry and are unintentionally released to the environment both during manufacturing and transport. They are sometimes ingested by seabirds and other marine organisms, and their adverse effects on organisms are a concern.
In the present study, PCBs, DDE, and nonylphenols (NP) were detected in polypropylene (PP) resin pellets collected from four Japanese coasts. Concentrations of PCBs (4- 117 ng/g), DDE (0.16-3.1 ng/g), and NP (0.13-16 µg/g) varied among the sampling sites. These concentrations were comparable to those for suspended particles and bottom sediments collected from the same area as the pellets. Field adsorption experiments using PP virgin pellets demonstrated significant and steady increase in PCBs and DDE concentrations throughout the six-day experiment, indicating that the source of PCBs and DDE is ambient seawater and that adsorption to pellet surfaces is the mechanism of enrichment. The major source of NP in the marine PP resin pellets was thought to be plastic additives and/or their degradation products. Comparison of PCBs and DDE concentrations in marine PP resin pellets with those in seawater suggests their high degree of accumulation (apparent adsorption coefficient: 105 -106 ). The high accumulation potential suggests that plastic resin pellets serve as both a transport medium and a potential source of toxic chemicals in the marine environment.
more (http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Pellets-Transport-Medium.htm)
another interesting article (http://www.forthestuaryforum.co.uk/plasticpellets.pdf)
craigdiver
18-04-07, 07:57
In the present study, PCBs, DDE, and nonylphenols (NP) were detected in polypropylene (PP) resin pellets collected from four Japanese coasts. Concentrations of PCBs (4- 117 ng/g), DDE (0.16-3.1 ng/g), and NP (0.13-16 µg/g) varied among the sampling sites. These concentrations were comparable to those for suspended particles and bottom sediments collected from the same area as the pellets. Field adsorption experiments using PP virgin pellets demonstrated significant and steady increase in PCBs and DDE concentrations throughout the six-day experiment, indicating that the source of PCBs and DDE is ambient seawater and that adsorption to pellet surfaces is the mechanism of enrichment. The major source of NP in the marine PP resin pellets was thought to be plastic additives and/or their degradation products. Comparison of PCBs and DDE concentrations in marine PP resin pellets with those in seawater suggests their high degree of accumulation (apparent adsorption coefficient: 105 -106 ). The high accumulation potential suggests that plastic resin pellets serve as both a transport medium and a potential source of toxic chemicals in the marine environment.
I was just about to say that;)
These pellets will not harm through contamination / poisioning, however can easily block passageways in smaller animals (marine life and birds) causing them to die.
I'm sure with a little more care, and concern for the environment, the spilling of these pellets could be advoidable (in my un-educated pellet transfer opinion)
Craig
Airmonster
18-04-07, 13:17
And they wonder why local residents, councils and some organisations are against the Forth Port Authority proposal for ship to ship oil transfer in the Forth estuary. :eek: :eek: :eek:
/Colin.
pretty sure the users of the pellets are trying to be carefull, they will have a duty of care to contain them to the best of their ability with proven & practiced systems.
the pellets will be previously tested on marine life & birds before being put to manufacture.
test results will obviously prove that these cause no harm as by design, size & shape they will pass through the animals digestive system.
consumed in any large quantity may be harmfull, but on the scale of things, this will probably be within an acceptable tollerence level.
what would be the alternative to using these? something worse perhaps.
if they were careless in using them, i think you would see lots more.
i think fishing line has a greater effect on our marine life & birds than these pellets do.
And they wonder why local residents, councils and some organisations are against the Forth Port Authority proposal for ship to ship oil transfer in the Forth estuary. :eek: :eek: :eek:
/Colin.
The bad thing about oil spills is that they look much worse than they actually are.
We had a small spill last month, (drilling blowout), less than a couple of litres of well fluid reached the sea. But the resulting sheen was quite impressive, it was the size of several football pitches.
Hey we made the Edinburgh Evening News Peter!!
edinburghnews (http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=591132007)
[QUOTE=chris;7147]Hey we made the Edinburgh Evening News Peter!!
well done guys.
Hi,
is also in the Falkirk Herald as well this week.
W.
pretty sure the users of the pellets are trying to be carefull, they will have a duty of care to contain them to the best of their ability with proven & practiced systems.
Although the above is probably true and the companies may well not want and instruct staff not to spill the stuff, there is probably a significant difference between their stated intention and the effort they make (and therefore the money they spend) on enforcing compliance. Report below off evening news blog (which I will admit is probably not the best source of accurate information), but report seems fairly detailed for someone to have made up. (You can see the original and the submitters id on the link Chris posted previously).
"Perhaps I can shed some light on where the plastic pellets come from (A killer on our shores 17 April).
Growing up in a small town on the shores of the Forth and spending most of my youth in the country I have always taken an interest in birds.
I have also spent many years working in the petrochemical industry and have observed over a long period how—on a daily basis—many tons of plastic pellets/beads were spilled in the loading/transport of this product at BP Chemicals, Grangemouth. This spillage which was often ankle deep and over a wide area was simply hosed or brushed into the rainwater drainage system and I have watched as multi-coloured streams of these pellets drifted on the currents out into the Forth.
Not surprising then that masses of these blue, yellow and white plastic beads are to be found on any beach along the shores of the Forth. Also not surprising is the fact that these beads, particularly the white ones which are the size and shape of tiny round eggs are eaten by sea birds. I watched a flock of Knot doing just this at Limekilns beach on day some years ago.
Having personally witnessed the industrial scale dumping of these tiny round plastic beads (about 3-4mm diameter) and having personally witnessed the large scale consumption of these plastic beads by migrating birds I have to confess that I have not witnessed the large scale deaths of these birds—though it seems a probable outcome.
Anyone who thinks otherwise should try eating a bucketful of plastic golf balls a day and see it if affects his health."
the company is only as good as the housekeeping in the event of loss of containment.
pretty sure their procedures are 100% determined to catch every pellet.
i agree, a guy with a hose not giving a to*s will happily flush them away, thus making for bad press which could now the case.
i would question the suggestion that rain water drainage systems on a chemical plant opened out directly in to any main water source.
might also be worth checking in to 'BP Chemicals' name before its blasted as 'Ineos' have owned it for some time.