Explosions at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Japan, March 13, 2011

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1 Explosions at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Japan, March 13, 2011 Deepwater Horizon: April 21, 2010 Image from US Coast Guard Half pound of plastics found inside dead albatross Marine Pollution: Sources, Fates, and Effects I. Kinds of Contaminants II. Sources, fates, and effects III. Contaminant fates in coastal waters IV. Effects A. Environmental Effects 1. Bioaccumulation 2. Community changes (benthos, plankton, HAB) B. Human Health effects (bioaccumulation) VI. Pollution solutions VII. Example: Hypoxia in Hood Canal Photo from National Geographic 1

2 Kinds of contaminants Solid waste (mostly plastics) In Gulf of Maine - 46,000 plastics/mi 2 In Pacific, more plastic than zooplankton (>500,000 items/mi 2 ) Organic contaminants (often toxic or carcinogenic) Inorganic contaminants - heavy metals Organo-metals Pathogens (bacteria, viruses) Water property changes heat, ph, salinity, suspended particles Excess nutrients (eutrophication, hypoxia, harmful algal blooms?) Important questions related to environmental pollution Source Fate Effects Control What is the source of the pollution Point source? Non-point source? What is the fate of the pollutant in the environment? Is it soluble? Does it adsorb to particles? Does it bioaccumulate? What are the effects of the pollutant on: Human health? Organism health? Organism growth and reproduction? Community structure? Ecosystem function? How can we control the input, fate or effects? Ocean-borne solid waste Computer simulation of the spread of radioactive 137 Cs from Fukushima Sources? Fate? Effects? Behrens et al. Env. Sci. Res. Lett

3 Sources and fates of ocean trash Beach trash concentration versus human population size Changes in the latitudinal distribution of trash Great Pacific garbage patch From Moore et al. A comparison of plastic and plankton in the North Pacific central gyre Barnes 2005 Plastics in Equatorial Pacific Fish Plastic found in the guts of fish of different sizes Effects on seabirds Plastics and prey in seabird guts (Colabuono et al. 2009) Albatross Petrels Shearwaters Atl. Fulmar Plastic in guts of dead vs. dead and injured albatross chicks). Dead have more plastic. (Aumann et al. 1997) Mortality estimates (UNEP): 10 6 seabirds & 10 5 mammals each year In Britain, 95% of birds surveyed had plastic in gut Boerger et al Marine Pollution Bulletin 3

4 Plastic debris exists in a broad size range How to keep plastics out of the ocean. Tiny fibers increasing in concentration in N. Atlantic. Collected in plankton nets. Composition matches nylon. (Thompson et al. 2004) Fates of chemical contaminants: Where do they go? Many organic and inorganic contaminants are relatively hydrophobic. Partition coefficients (K D ) typically greater than Residence time in solution is relatively short, removal rates are rapid. Where do they end up? 1. Sediments 2. Bodies of organisms 4

5 Human health effects: Take home message - Check local health agencies before eating fish! Run-off from urban areas primary source of contaminants to Puget Sound (EPA 2007) Biomagnification and PCBs in Puget Sound Eutrophication: Addition of excess nutrients to an aquatic environment resulting in abundant algal growth in surface water and often low oxygen concentrations in bottom water. Persistent organic contaminants probably the biggest pollution problem in Puget Sound 5

6 Nitrogen sources for inland and coastal waters Simple view of eutrophication (limnologists perspective) Oligotrophic Eutrophic Diagram from NSTC 2003 Factors influencing coastal eutrophication 1: Stratification 2: Tidal mixing 3: Water residence time 4: Light 5: Grazing 6

7 N input exported from 12 Estuaries (Nixon 1996) Productivity versus mean photic depth (Peterson et al. 1987) Pollution sensitive regions of Puget Sound Stratified embayments with long deep-water residence times Estuarine residence time and light are important for determining fate and effects of excess nutrients July 31, 2004 Strong spatial gradients in dissolved oxygen concentration and benthic communities exist in Hood Canal 48 N Dabob Bay Hood Canal, WA N Great Bend Lynch Cove Stn Stn Stn Stn Total Crustacea Photos from canal 7

8 Hood Canal N Loading (tons/y, USGS) Hood Canal Lynch Cove Fluvial 421 ± ± 25 Regional Groundwater 56 ± 30 7 ± 4 Near-shore Septic 28 ± 15 8 ± 5 Atmospheric 33 ± ± 1.1 Marine 8700 ± N Input compiled by PSAT Human sewage, agricultural manure, storm runoff, forestry Chum Salmon carcasses Half pound of plastics found inside dead albatross Photo from National Geographic 8