Quick Dips
Curated topical articles on the Blue Economy

Corals and Sea Anemones Turn Sunscreen into Toxins—Understanding How Could Help Save Coral Reefs

Djordje Vuckovic & Bill Mitch, The Scientist Plastics & Pollution

Researchers have long suspected that an ingredient in sunscreen called oxybenzone was harming corals, but no one knew how. A new study shows how corals turn oxybenzone into a sunlight-activated toxin.

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U.S. plastic recycling rate drops to close to 5%

Valerie Volcovici, Reuters Plastics & Pollution

The decline coincides with a sharp drop in plastic waste exports, which had counted as recycled plastic.

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How liberating ocean data will equip companies to avoid illegally caught seafood in their supply chains

Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford Plastics & Pollution

A new report outlines how ocean data transparency can enable companies to avoid produce from illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and instead choose sustainable and ethical products throughout their supply chains.

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Fish on drugs: cocktail of medications is ‘contaminating ocean food chain’

Salomé Gómez-Upegui, The Guardian Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution

Study in Florida finds ‘widespread’ traces of a total of 58 medications including heart drugs, opioids, antidepressants and antifungals in increasingly rare bonefish and their prey.

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Can brands make reusable packaging more attractive than single-use plastic? NFTs could be the answer

Emma Samson, World Economic Forum Plastics & Pollution

The reusable packaging market could be a $10 billion opportunity to eliminate single-use plastic.

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Disease-causing parasites can hitch a ride on plastics and potentially spread through the sea, new research suggests

Karen Shapiro & Emma Zhang, The Conversation Plastics & Pollution

Typically when people hear about plastic pollution, they might envision seabirds with bellies full of trash or sea turtles with plastic straws in their noses.

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Sunscreen chemicals accumulating in Mediterranean seagrass, finds study

Safi Bugel, The Guardian Plastics & Pollution

UV filters absorbed by Posidonia oceanica may have damaging effects on ecosystems, scientists warn.

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Revealed: ships may dump oil up to 3,000 times a year in Europe’s waters

Paddison, L. et al., The Guardian Plastics & Pollution Shipping & Ports

Collaborative investigation shows ships regularly discharge ‘bilge’ water illegally instead of treating it, with toxic effect on marine life.

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Here's why paint microplastic emissions must be at the top of the global environmental agenda

Declan McAdams & Torleiv Njaa, World Economic Forum Plastics & Pollution

Paint is a major source of microplastics in the ocean, although the scale of the issue has only recently been highlighted.

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This is how to ensure sustainable alternatives to plastic

Karuna Rana, World Economic Forum Plastics & Pollution

Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time, with marine plastics being the most recognizable problem linked to the use of plastic.

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Oil spill at sea: who will pay for Peru’s worst environmental disaster?

Dan Collyns, The Guardian Plastics & Pollution

As the state, the refinery and tanker owners play the blame game, damage to the region’s ecosystems continues to spread.

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Historic day in the campaign to beat plastic pollution

UN Environment Programme Plastics & Pollution

Nations commit to develop a legally binding agreement.

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The Plastic in Paint Is Massively Polluting the Ocean

Jeremy Miller for The Sierra Club Plastics & Pollution

According to an estimate from the World Economic Forum, the number of microplastics that find their way to the ocean every year by way of paint flaking from steel surfaces is equivalent to the plastic of 150 to 225 billion empty plastic bottles.

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Plastic pollution is growing relentlessly as waste management and recycling fall short, says OECD

OECD Plastics & Pollution

The world is producing twice as much plastic waste as two decades ago, with the bulk of it ending up in landfill, incinerated or leaking into the environment, and only 9% successfully recycled, according to a new OECD report.

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Ocean plastic pollution threatens marine extinction says new study

Douglas Broom, World Economic Forum Plastics & Pollution

Ocean plastic pollution is set to grow fourfold by 2050, says a new report. And there may be 50 times more microplastics in the sea by 2100.

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Pipeline Spills 500 Barrels of Oil Into Irish Sea on Anniversary of Environmental Disaster

Olivia Rosane, EcoWatch Plastics & Pollution

A pipeline leak off the coast of Wales spilled around 500 barrels of oil into the Irish Sea on Monday on the anniversary of one of the worst ecological disasters in Welsh history.

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How ‘forever chemicals’ are using marine life to travel the world by sea

Anna Turns, The Guardian Plastics & Pollution

First it was PCBs, now it’s PFAS – harmful toxic pollutants that do not biodegrade are affecting ecosystems around the globe.

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More than 100 nations take action to save oceans from human harm

Jon Henley, The Guardian Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution

Envoys at Brest summit sign up to measures to tackle fight against illegal fishing and cut pollution.

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Paint Is The Largest Source Of Microplastics In The Ocean, Study Finds

Jamie Hailstone, Forbes Plastics & Pollution

Particles of paint account for more than half (58%) of all the microplastics that end up in the world’s oceans and waterways every year, according to a new study.

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The world’s shellfish are under threat as our oceans become more acidic

Susan Fitzer Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution

Growing acidification of the oceans is becoming a serious problem for the production of shellfish around the world.

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