In the article, “Boy Genius Boyan
Slat's Giant Ocean Cleanup Machine Is Real,” Schiller (2017) explores the
potential of Boyan Slat’s recent innovation, which claims to remove 50% of all
plastic waste in the Pacific Garbage Patch within the next 5 years. The article
mentions that Slat’s design functions as an "artificial coastline",
utilizing current to trap and gather waste for convenient disposal. With the
prototype of the former design failing in the harsh ocean conditions, Slat was
able to learn from and improve his device. Schiller reported that the new
design replaces the use of foundations with anchors situated in the deep-sea
layer to slow down the boom and facilitate entrapment. Slat’s first claim was
that the revised system will be more robust, affordable, and scalable. In a bid
to substantiate his colossal projections for trash removal, Slat expressed his
extensive simulations on the interaction of marine devices and trash in its
natural environment. According to Schiller, Slat intends to recycle all the
plastic collected in the Pacific Garbage Patch.
According to Parker (2018), microplastics takes up 94% of approximately
1.8 trillion pieces of plastic in the Pacific Garbage Patch. As the Pacific
Garbage Patch was discovered in 1997, these microplastics may have already further
decomposed into nano-plastics. While the need to extract plastics from the Pacific Garbage
Patch was highlighted, Slat failed to address the capability of his device to
capture all sizes of plastics, including microplastics and nano-plastics, which
will lead to severe health complication in future generations.
One such cause of health complications
is the consumption of bisphenol A (BPAs). With micro- and nano-plastics defined
as particles less than 5mm in diameter, marine organisms may mistake it as
food. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as bisphenol A (BPAs) present
in plastics adds an extra layer of contamination in the ocean. When marine
organisms consumed these plastics, they are also taking in POPs which makes
them the transporter of toxic chemicals. Due to its small size,
micro- and nano-plastics can be ingested by a vast variety of marine organisms
directly or indirectly through trophic transfer. According to Rochester (2013),
human exposure to BPA leads to negative perinatal, childhood and health
impacts. Moreover, exposure of BPA during pregnancy increase the risk of
abortion, abnormal gestation time, reduced birth weight and childhood obesity.
Eliminating the consumption of harmful toxins through seafood can be achieved if
improvements to Slat’s device are made.
Another cause of health complications
is the compromised growth oh phytoplankton. Phytoplankton is greatly affected
by the presence of micro- and nano-plastic as it takes up food space in their
body and may potentially hinder their growth. Phytoplankton plays a major role
in the local and global ecosystems as it is responsible for half of the
photosynthetic activity on earth. Phytoplankton uses photosynthesis to convert
carbon dioxide into oxygen. An excessive amount of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere causes an increase in temperature. This will lead to heat exhaustion, heatstroke, dehydration, and death. According to Harmon (2010), 1995 Chicago
heatwave killed approximately 692 people and the survivors had “permanent loss
of independent function”. With measures to remove plastics in the ocean, it
potentially reduces a factor of climate change.
In conclusion, prolonged disposal
of plastic waste into the ocean progressively increases human health hazards.
Slat made an admirable initiative on cleaning up the Pacific Garbage Patch by
learning from the previously failed prototype. However, to produce a more
successful device, in-depth research on the negative health impacts of land and
marine life due to various sizes of plastics have to be made. Through
these improvements, Slat’s innovation will then capture a more significant
impact of cleaning up the ocean.
Reference List
Best, S. (2017). Shocking Extent of Plastic Pollution: Microscopic
photos show how plankton consume tiny toxic microfibres that could devastate
the ecosystem. Mailonline. Retrieved, February 2, 2020, from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4420992/Shocking-photos-reveal-plankton-consuming-microplastics.html
Harmon, K. (2010). How does heat
wave affect the human body? Scientific American. Retrieved February 16, 2020
from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/heat-wave-health/
Macklin, M. (2016). Plastic
Pollution is Killing Plankton. How the Loss of This Species Threatens the
Oceans. One Green Planet. Retrieved, February 2, 2020, from https://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/plankton-under-threat-tiny-life-in-major-need-of-your-help/
Parker, L. (2018). The Great Pacific
Garbage Patch isn’t what you think it is. National Geographic. Retrieved,
February 15, 2020, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/03/great-pacific-garbage-patch-plastics-environment/
Rochester, J. R. (2013). Bisphenol A
and human health: a review of the literature. Reproductive toxicology, 42, 132-155. Retrieved
February 16, 2020, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890623813003456#sec0010
Roscam, B. (2019). How Microplastic
Particles Are Turning the Ocean into Plastic Soup. GreenBiz. Retrieved February
5, 2020 from https://www.greenbiz.com/article/how-microplastic-particles-are-turning-oceans-plastic-soup
Schiller, B. (2011). Boy Genius
Boyan Slat’s Giant Ocean Clean up Machine is Real. Fast Company. Retrieved
January 30, 2020, from https://www.fastcompany.com/40419899/boy-genius-boyan-slats-giant-ocean-cleanup-machine-is-real
Smith, M., Love, D. C., Rochman, C.
M., & Neff, R. A. (2018). Microplastics in Seafood and the Implications
for Human Health. Current environmental health reports, 5(3), 375–386. Retrieved
February 16, 2020, from https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s40572-018-0206-z.pdf
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