Nanoplastics linked to heart attack, stroke and early death, study finds – CNN
People with microplastics or nanoplastics in their carotid artery tissues were twice as likely to have a heart attack, stroke or die from any cause over the next three years than people who had none, a new study found…“To date, our study is the first that associated the plastic contamination with human diseases,” said Raffaele Marfella, lead author of the study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine…
Microplastics found in every human placenta tested in study – the Guardian
Scientists express concern over health impacts, with another study finding particles in arteries…The scientists analysed 62 placental tissue samples and found the most common plastic detected was polyethylene, which is used to make plastic bags and bottles. A second study revealed microplastics in all 17 human arteries tested and suggested the particles may be linked to clogging of the blood vessels…
It’s not just toxic chemicals. Radioactive waste was also dumped off Los Angeles coast – the Los Angeles Times
For decades, a graveyard of corroding barrels has littered the seafloor just off the coast of Los Angeles. It was out of sight, out of mind — a not-so-secret secret that haunted the marine environment until a team of researchers came across them with an advanced underwater camera…Startling amounts of DDT near the barrels pointed to a little-known history of toxic pollution…but federal regulators recently determined that the manufacturer had not bothered with barrels. (Its acid waste was poured straight into the ocean instead.)…
Coral bleaching is now so extreme, scientists had to expand their scale for it – the Washington Post
For more than a decade, marine experts have relied on an alert scale from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to signal how much stress ocean heat is putting on corals and what risk there is for bleaching. The highest on the two-level system, Bleaching Alert Level 2, has for years represented coral catastrophe. That has sufficed — until last summer…
Reduce, reuse, redirect outrage: How plastic makers used recycling as a fig leaf – NPR
Former industry officials have said the goal was to avoid regulations and ensure that demand for plastics, which are made from fossil fuels, kept growing. Despite years of recycling campaigns, less than 10% of plastic waste gets recycled globally, and the amount of plastic waste that’s dumped in the environment continues to soar..
2022 Six Part Series on “Sand Dealers” – Le Monde
Published in 2022, links to Le Monde’s Series on Sand are provided here…
California’s war on plastic bag use seems to have backfired. Lawmakers are trying again – the Los Angeles Times
According to a report by the consumer advocacy group CALPIRG, 157,385 tons of plastic bag waste was discarded in California the year the law was passed. By 2022, however, the tonnage of discarded plastic bags had skyrocketed to 231,072 — a 47% jump…The problem, it turns out, was a section of the law that allowed grocery stores and large retailers to provide thicker, heavier-weight plastic bags to customers for the price of a dime….
Fire Blanketed Lahaina in Toxic Debris. Where Can They Put It? – the New York Times
Crews are sending thousands of truckloads of debris to a temporary disposal site (in Olowalu)..The coast of Olowalu is popular with snorkelers and filled with abundant sea life. In 2017, the coral reef offshore became a focal point for protection by the nonprofit Mission Blue, which advocates to protect the ocean. The organization said the reef acts as a sort of nursery to enhance reefs on other islands nearby. It also supports a large population of manta rays. “It’s environmentally precious,” said Tom Gruber, an adviser to Mission Blue. “It’s like Yosemite. You wouldn’t put a toxic waste dump upstream of Yosemite…”
African Penguins Have Almost Been Wiped Out by Overfishing and Climate Change. Researchers Want to Orchestrate a Comeback – Inside Climate News
A hatchery in Cape Town breeds birds for release in a newly established sanctuary for penguins 146 miles east, where a few early signs suggest the penguins may have found a new home..