Spain Huge amounts of tiny plastic particles have been stranded on beaches in the Galicia region, threatening the local ecosystem.
Plastic rocks washed up on a beach in Galicia. Photo: Noia Limpa
Millions of tiny plastic beads, known as nurdles or mermaid tears, have been washing up on several beaches along the coast since December 15, 2023, according to local environmental organization Noia Limpa. About 70 bags of plastic beads, each weighing about 25 kilograms, were found on the beach by Noia Limpa. Many more beads fell from torn bags and threatened the local ecosystem, Newsweek reported on January 9.
“The first complaints came in mid-December 2023. People started sending us photos of plastic bags on Espiñeirido Beach on Instagram,” said Madison Hourihan, founder and director of Noia Limpa. “As we got reports from other coastal locations, we found more plastic particles.”
These plastic pellets are used to make a variety of plastic products and are designed to melt into a liquid form that can be molded into other shapes. They are typically less than 5 millimeters in size, making them difficult to clean up from the environment if they are dispersed due to their ultra-lightweight nature. Each year, 230,000 tons of plastic pellets enter the ocean, making them the second largest source of microplastics. Plastic pellets are often coated with chemical contaminants and environmental toxins, and are also hosts to a variety of bacteria, including E. coli and Vibrio, which can be disastrous if ingested by marine animals.
“Plastic beads are very hard and can persist for a long time,” explains Ian Williams, professor of applied environmental science at the University of Southampton in the UK. “They don’t break down easily and over time can become smaller plastics called microplastics, which are even harder to remove. Worse, plastic beads can leach toxic chemicals from the water.” According to Williams, chemicals from plastic can alter the bacterial life in the seawater, harming life forms that are essential for oxygen production in the ocean, and disrupt the marine food web, which in turn affects local economies that depend on fishing.
The bags of plastic pellets were shipped from the Polish company Bedeko Europe and were on a Liberian container ship. Some of the containers fell off the ship on December 6, 2023, and drifted off the coast of Portugal. One container containing plastic pellets floated inland, covering beaches in Galicia, a region in northern Spain. Despite the scale of the disaster, Noia Limpa is struggling to get permits to remove the plastic from its beaches. The environmental group Adega has also criticized the government for being slow to deal with the buildup of plastic pellets. In the meantime, Noia Limpa is planning to call for volunteers to clean up the beaches, but the process could take a long time.
An Khang (According to Newsweek )
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