Surah Al-Kahf – Verses 107-108 Jannat ul firdus

Plastic should be banned

             part-2

Attracts other pollutants

plastic acts like a magnet for a range of other poisons and pollutants we have spilled into the natural world. Chemicals in plastic which give them their rigidity or flexibility (flame retardants, bisphenols, phthalates and other harmful chemicals) are oily poisons that repel water and stick to petroleum-based objects like plastic debris.  So, the toxic chemicals that leach out of plastics can accumulate on other plastics.  This is a serious concern with increasing amounts of plastic debris accumulating in the world's oceans. 

90% of all the trash floating on the ocean surface is plastic.

» Fish, exposed to a mixture of polyethylene with chemical pollutants absorbed from the marine environment, bioaccumulate these chemical pollutants and suffer liver toxicity and pathology. Source: Rochman, Chelsea "Ingested Plastic Transfers Hazardous Chemicals to Fish and Induces Hepatic Stress," Scientific Reports 2013

Threat To Animal Life

Plastic waste causes extensive harm to animals who are killed by plastics every year, from birds to fish. Nearly 700 species, including endangered ones, are known to have been affected by plastics.

The marine species are more affected to plastic pollution as the litter either directly thrown to sea water or from landfill it end up to sea water.

The marine animals either entangled in plastic or mistaken it for food, it significantly raise the mortality rate of animals, and it is found that even extremely remote ocean of the Earth is not free from the plastic pollution. It effect from the microscopic amphipods to the animals as big as blue whales. It even harms the coral that sustain coral reefs.

“Marine plastic litter pollution is already affecting more than 800 marine species through ingestion, entanglement and habitat change,” says head of UN Environment’s coral reef unit, Jerker Tamelander.

Between 8 and 12 million tons of plastic enter the ocean annually.

“That’s like one garbage truck load every 60 seconds,” said Cassia Patel, project manager at Oceanic Global, a nonprofit that helps organizations and people go plastic-free.

It is estimated that at this rate of accumulation of plastic in the world’s ocean will lead to a day when there will be more plastic than fish by 2050 and 99 per cent of all the seabirds on the planet will have consumed some. It is thought the sea now contains some 51 trillion microplastic particles – 500 times more than stars in our galaxy.

» Over 260 species, including invertebrates, turtles, fish, seabirds and mammals, have been reported to ingest or become entangled in plastic debris, resulting in impaired movement and feeding, reduced reproductive output, lacerations, ulcers and death. Source: Thompson, Richard C.; Moore, Charles J.; vom Saal, Frederick S.; Swan, Shanna H. "Plastics, the Environment and Human Health: Current Consensus and Future Trends," Biological Sciences 14 June 2009 

Plastic trash is found in the guts of more than 90% of the world’s sea birds, in the stomachs of more than half of the world’s sea turtles, and it’s even choking the life out of whales. In a 2006 report, Plastic Debris in the World’s Oceans, Greenpeace stated that at least 267 different animal species are known to have suffered from entanglement and ingestion of plastic debris. According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, plastic debris kills an estimated 100,000 marine mammals annually, as well as millions of birds and fishes.

The United Nations Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Pollution (GESAMP), estimated that land-based sources account for up to 80 percent of the world’s marine pollution, 60 to 95 percent of the waste being plastics debris.

Unsurprisingly, gulping down all this indigestible poison instead of food is bad for their health. So far, it is known that marine litter harms more than 600 species amid what some regard as the beginning of the sixth mass extinction of life on Earth.

Turtles are well-known victims of plastic waste. When in the presence of plastic, they sometimes ingest it. The material then becomes stuck in their intestines, causing death in the worst cases. The slow endangerment of the sea turtles species can be linked to human pollution, especially plastic pollution.

Plastics not only have adverse effects on our natural habitats, but have also been found to be responsible for the death of many animals, mainly on account of the suffocation encountered on eating them or the plastic bags in the water may get wrapped around marine animals.

According to a study by Plymouth University, one third of the fish caught in the UK had plastic inside. The effect of eating these plastic contaminated fish is for the most part unknown, but the risk was substantial enough to warrant a warning of increased risk to human health and safety by the European Food Safety Authority in 2016.

Sea birds and fish have a hard time distinguishing plastic from food. When
they eat the stuff, they cannot digest it, and eventually die with bellies
so full of plastic that no food or water can pass through them.

Most of the deaths to animals are caused by entanglement or starvation. Seals, whales, turtles, and other animals are strangled by abandoned fishing gear or discarded six-pack rings.

 

Microplastics have been found in more than 100 aquatic species, including fish, shrimp, and mussels destined for our dinner plates. In many cases, these tiny bits pass through the digestive system and are expelled without consequence. But plastics have also been found to have blocked digestive tracts or pierced organs, causing death. Stomachs so packed with plastics reduce the urge to eat, causing starvation.

 Plastics have been consumed by land-based animals, including elephants, hyenas, zebras, tigers, camels, cattle, and other large mammals, in some cases causing death.

Tests have also confirmed liver and cell damage and disruptions to reproductive systems, prompting some species, such as oysters, to produce fewer eggs. New research shows that larval fish are eating nanofibers in the first days of life, raising new questions about the effects of plastics on fish populations.