started out as a large pile of recycled or created nurdles. Nurdles can infiltrate the environment and bodies of water from people littering, spills from ships, strong winds, and many other ways. Such occurrences tremendously impact the environment.
Nurdles Contaminate Our Beaches
Although they are small, those plastic pellets can accumulate to large problems. Debris from companies and factories can end up utterly trashing the beaches. Two years ago beaches in Hong Kong were victims of a horrible littering of plastic. After Typhoon Vincent hit, “...hundreds of 25kg plastic sacks filled with pre-production plastic pellets produced by SINOPEC Petroleum Hainan are now washing up on the beaches of Hong Kong.”(Stokes). As a result, their beaches were coated in plastic, making it a dangerous place for the animals and people to live, or even visit. Animals could eat it and get sick. People could step on it and injure themselves.
Troubles for Marine Life
These plastic pellets are not only hazardous on beaches, they are hazardous to the marine life around it. Since nurdles are so small and ball-shaped, animals might mistake them for food. Sea turtles and large fish eat fish eggs, and they may eat nurdles by mistake due to the resemblance.
In addition to the obvious dangers of animals ingesting plastic, nurdles can be laced with chemicals. These chemicals tamper with the animals’ body systems and can affect any other animals or people that eat them. As a result, nurdles won’t just harm marine animals, they could harm humans as well. Scientists who specialize in ecology, marine life, or other fields say that the “widespread accumulation of small fragments of plastic ”(Microplastics Threatens Oceans, Marine Life) is a greater threat than larger plastic products in the oceans . Even scientists recognize how much of a problem this is.
Research Programs
Luckily, it has been recognized that nurdles are a problem. Programs are in place to do more research on them including how they enter the water systems, the range of their impact, and the severity of their presence. The Microplastics Monitoring Program was started in 2012. This Program studies areas with a surplus of pollution or plastic productions throughout 23 monitoring sites and 10 local volunteer sites (Plastics or Microplastics Research). More programs like the Microplastics Monitoring Program can study nurdles and invent solutions for the problems they cause.
Cleanup Committees
Research programs are only part of the solution to the nurdle problem. Action must be taken as well. Back in 2011, there was an ordered nurdle clean up, the first in the nation (Simms). The damage nurdles cause was recognized in the state of California and they decide to do something about it. “The Oyster Bay cleanup has been ordered under a cleanup and abatement order issued by the Regional Water Board.”(Simms). So the next time you are waiting along the beach or going for a swim, keep an eye out for nurdles or plastic. You don’t need to be part of a cleanup committee to make the beach healthier. A little effort can go a long way.
Picture 1: Nurdles are very small, yet they can be found in large clusters.
Picture 2: Hazardous amounts of plastic washed up in Hong Kong.
Picture 3: Nurdles and fish eggs could be easily mistaken for one another.
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