Discovery brings up the grim possibility that we’re all doomed to die in an invisible toxic wave:
Patterns in ocean currents create conglomerations of swirling trash that have received a burst of attention recently. The so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch, for one, is a mound of waste, mostly plastic, that’s about twice the size of Texas. It lies some 1,000 miles off the west coast between California and Hawaii.
In Japan, Saido said, up to 150,000 tons of plastic wash on shore each year. Much of it is Styrofoam, a type of polystyrene plastic.
In their lab, Saido and colleagues used a new chemical technique to simulate the decomposition of polystyrene plastic in the oceans at 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit). The process produced some potentially toxic chemicals, including bisphenol A (BPA) and PS oligomer.
“Evan at 30 degrees Celsius, it decomposes,” said Saido’s colleague Yoichi Kodera, who also spoke at the conference. “In natural conditions, the tide comes in and sunlight heats the plastics,” he said, which should only enhance degradation.
As it cooks in the sun, the Garbage Patch is oozing deadly stuff into our beaches. And the local landfill might be doing the same to our drinking water.