WRITTENTESTIMONYOF:

KaraLavenderLaw,Ph.D.ResearchProfessorofOceanography

SeaEducationAssociationWoodsHole,Massachusetts

BEFORE

THEU.S.SENATECOMMITTEEONENVIRONMENTANDPUBLICWORKS

Hearing:“CleaningUptheOceans:HowtoReducetheImpactofMan-MadeTrashonthe

Environment,Wildlife,andHumanHealth?”

September26,2018

IntroductionGoodmorning. ThankyouChairmanBarrasso,RankingMemberCarper, andmembersof theCommittee, for the invitation to testify at this importanthearingonman-madedebris in themarine environment.My name is Dr. Kara Lavender Law, and I am a Research Professor ofOceanographyatSeaEducationAssociation(SEA),anon-profiteducationalorganizationbasedinWoodsHole,MA. Since1971, SEAhas takenundergraduate students to seaon tall sailingshipstostudytheopenocean,first-hand,asnavigators,sailors,shipmatesandscientists.Morethan8,000SEASemesterstudentshavecontributedtoour30+-yeardatasetonfloatingplasticsintheocean,assembledbytowingplanktonnets fromoursailingresearchshipstwiceaday,every day, and hand-counting their contents. In 2016, for our work in, “fostering scientificdiscoveryandstewardshipoftheworld’soceans”,theNationalScienceBoardawardedSEAitsPublicServiceAward.Asanoceanographertrainedinoceanphysics,Iknewlittleaboutmarinedebrisbeforejoiningthe faculty at SEA 15 years ago.More seasoned faculty quickly taughtme that the “plasticsproject”wasapopularindependentresearchtopicforourstudentswhowereconcernedaboutocean pollution, and also one of the most reliable because, unlike projects focused onparticularmarineorganisms,onecouldguaranteethatalongcertaincruisetrackssmallbitsofplasticdebriswouldbefoundfloatingattheseasurface.Itwasn’tuntil2007whenIfirstheardtheterm“garbagepatch”,a termrifewithmisconceptionsabout immensefloating islandsofrecognizableplastictrash. Infact,themostnumeroustypeofplasticdebris intheocean,andwhatwetypicallycollect inourplanktonnets,are“microplastics”,particlessmallerthanyourpinky fingernail that are composed of a variety of synthetic polymers (Figure 1). Thesemicroplastics are not readily visible from the deck of a ship, let alone from an aircraft orsatellite.AtSEA,werecognizedtheneedtoshiftthefocusawayfrommythicalfloatingislandsof trash and towards a scientifically informed description of ocean plastics pollution. To thisend, in2010wepublishedananalysisofourunprecedenteddata set,whichnowconsistsofmorethan10,000measurementsoftheconcentrationoffloatingplasticparticlesintheAtlanticandPacificOceans.Forthepast10years,Ihavecarriedoutscientificresearchonoceanplasticstobetterunderstandtheirsources,abundance,distributionandtransformation inthemarineenvironment,notonlytoadvancescientificunderstanding,butalsotoinformsolutionstothisglobalproblem.Itisimportanttorememberthannotallmarinedebrisisplastic,andnotallisfoundfloatingatthe sea surface. Trash on beaches and shorelines is marine debris (Figure 2). Litter on theseabedismarinedebris,whetherclosetoland(Figure3)orindeepandremoteplaces(Figure4).Debriscanbetensofmeterslong,suchaslostfishingnets(Figure5)orderelictvessels,oritcanbemicroscopic insize.Man-madedebris iscomposedofpaper,glass,aluminumorothermetals,aswellasplastics.Yetthedebrisofgreatestconcernandfocus,bothbyscientistsandcitizens,isthatmadeofplastics.

Plastics:Ubiquitous,long-livedandharmfultowildlifeWefocusonplastics in themarineenvironmentbecauseof theirubiquity,andtherisks theypose to wildlife and potentially human health. In a 2017 study1 led by Roland Geyer ofUniversityofCalifornia,SantaBarbara,weestimatedthatsince thestartofmassproduction,8.3 billion metric tons of plastics have been produced, more than most other man-madematerials,with theexceptionsof steelandcement.Further,weestimated that90%of theseplastics still exist on the planet, with only a small fraction of plastic waste having beenincinerated,andthemajorityofwasteeitherresidinginlandfillsorintheenvironment.Plasticsaredesignedforstrengthanddurabilityanddonotbiodegrade;thus,onceintheenvironment,plastics persist for years to decades or longer. Otherman-madematerials such as glass andmetals are also persistent in the environment; however, unlike glass and metals, the lightweightofplasticsmakesthemeasilytransportable.Asplasticsarecarriedbywindorwaterintheenvironment,theyareweakenedbysunlightandfragmenttosmallerandsmallerpieces.Theirchemicalcompositionchangesaswell,asadditives leachoutandcontaminantsalreadypresentinseawatertransfertoplastics.Thus,asplasticdebrismovesaroundintheoceans,itssize,shape,andchemicalmakeupchange.Asthesedebrischaracteristicsevolve,sotoodothepotentialimpactsonwildlifethatencountertheseplastics.Morethan800marinespecieshavebeenaffectedbyman-madedebris2 through interactionssuchasingestion,entanglement(includingghostfishing),anddisplacementofspeciesthatdriftwith,orupon,floatingdebris.Further,plasticdebrisaccountsfor92%ofreportedencounterswith individual organisms3. Large whales have ingested items as large as flower pots andmeters-longlengthsofropeandplasticsheeting4;bottlecapsandcigarettelightershavebeenfound in the guts of dead albatross chicks5; and small microplastics particles contaminate amultitudeofspecies,includingfishandshellfishweconsumeasseafood6.Plasticsingestionhasnowbeendocumentedformorethan200marinespecies, includingallspeciesofseaturtles,59%ofwhalespecies,and59%ofseabirdspecies7,8.Further,forparticularpopulations,suchasthenorthernfulmarseabirdpopulationintheNorthSea,asmanyas95%ofindividualsstudiedhaveingestedplastics9.Thedirectconsequencestowildlifeofingestingrelativelylargeplasticdebriscanincludephysicalinjuryandgutobstruction,ultimatelyleadingtodeath,whereasthe

1Geyer,R.,J.R.JambeckandK.L.Law,2017.Production,use,andfateofallplasticsevermade.Sci.Adv.3,e1700782.2MarineDebris:Understanding,PreventingandMitigatingtheSignificantAdverseImpactsonMarineandCoastalBiodiversity.TechnicalSeriesNo.83.SecretariatoftheConventiononBiologicalDiversity,Montreal,78pp.3Gall,S.C.andR.C.Thompson,2015.Theimpactofdebrisonmarinelife.Mar.Poll.Bull.92,170-179.4deStephanis,R.etal.,2013.Asmainmealforspermwhales:Plasticsdebris.Mar.Poll.Bull.69,206-214.5http://www.chrisjordan.com6Rochman,C.M.etal.,2015.Anthropogenicdebrisinseafood:Plasticdebrisandfibersfromtextilesinfishandbivalvessoldforhumanconsumption.Sci.Rep.5:14340.7Kühn,S.,E.L.BravoRebolledoandJ.A.vanFraneker,2015.Deleteriouseffectsoflitteronmarinelife.In:MarineAnthropogenicLitter,Bergmann,M.,L.GutowandM.Klages,Eds.Springer:Heidelberg,Germany,447pp.8Wilcox,C.,E.vanSebilleandB.D.Hardesty,2015.Threatofplasticpollutiontoseabirdsisglobal,pervasive,andincreasing.PNAS112,11899-11904.9vanFraneker,J.A.etal.,2011.MonitoringplasticingestionbythenorthernfulmarFulmarusglacialisintheNorthSea.Environ.Pollut.159,2609-2615.

consequences of ingesting microplastics remain less well understood. An area of intensescientificinquiryaskswhetherornotchemicalsassociatedwithingestedmicroplasticstransferintoanimaltissueandcausephysiologicaldamage.Somelaboratorystudieshavedemonstratedthatforparticularanimal-plastic-chemicalcombinations,physiologicalharmdoesoccur10,11,yetmoreworkremainstodeterminewhetherornottheseimpactsareoccurringinnatureand,ifso,atwhatscale.Although recent scientific researchhas largely focusedon impacts ofmicroplastics ingestion,evidenceclearlydemonstratesimpactsofdebrisonmarinewildlifethroughentanglementandspecies transport. Entanglements, now reported for 344 marine species, most commonlyinvolvecomponentsofderelictfishinggear,suchasplasticropeandnetting,aswellasloopedpacking or strapping bands, which may cause severe injury and death3,7. In 29 years ofsurveying the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, 83% of individuals showedevidenceof entanglement12. Themost recent demonstrationof species transport on floatingdebriswasthedeliveryof289livingmarinespeciesfromthecoastofJapanacrossthePacificOcean toNorth America for six years following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami13.Although we don’t yet know whether these species will become established and threatennativespecies,thesix-yeardurationoftheinvasionisunprecedented,andis likelyduetothepersistenceofplasticsintheocean.To date, widespread encounters of marine wildlife with plastic debris have been welldocumented, and scientific evidence clearly demonstrates harm from interactionswith largedebris. Laboratory studies have also provided evidence of harm from animal uptake ofmicroplastics.However,becauseexperimentsarecarefullycontrolledtotestsingleoutcomes,itis impossible to generalize results across species or debris types, or from the laboratory topopulations in nature. Further research into the ecological impacts of contamination bymicroplasticsissorelyneeded.IdentifyingthesourcesThe most effective way to reduce the impacts of plastic debris on wildlife and the marineenvironmentistopreventplasticsfrombecomingoceandebrisinthefirstplace.Thiscanonlybeaccomplishedbyfirstunderstandingtheoriginsofthedebris,andthepathwaysbywhichitenters theocean. Plastics can enter the environment at any point in their life cycle, startingfromlossesofindustrialresinpellets(thematerialfeedstockforplasticproducts),toaccidentallossduringproductuse,suchaswithfishingandaquaculturegear,toaccidentalordeliberate

10Rochman,C.M.etal.,2013.Ingestedplastictransfershazardouschemicalstofishandinduceshepaticstress.Sci.Rep.3,3263.11Oliveira,M.etal.,2013.Singleandcombinedeffectsofmicroplasticsandpyreneonjuvenils(0+group)ofthecommongobyPomatoschistusmicrops(Teleostei,Gobiidae).Ecol.Indic.34,641-647.12Knowlton,A.R.etal.,2012.MonitoringNorthAtlanticrightwhaleEubalaenaglacialisentanglementrates:a30yrretrospective.Mar.Ecol.Prog.Ser.466,293-302.13Carlton,J.T.etal.,2017.Tsunami-drivenrafting:Transoceanicspeciesdispersalandimplicationsformarinebiogeography.Science357,1402-1406.

discard of plastic waste into the environment. A 2015 study14 led by Jenna Jambeck ofUniversity of Georgia estimated that between 5 and 13 million metric tons of plastic trashgeneratedincoastalregionsworldwideenterstheoceaninasingleyearbecausethewasteisnotproperlycapturedandcontained.Weestimatedthatnearlyhalfofthismismanagedplasticwaste originates from four countries in southeast Asia (China, Indonesia, Philippines andVietnam),countriesthathaveexperiencedrapideconomicgrowthaccompaniedbyanincreaseintheamountofplasticwasteproducedbylargecoastalpopulations.Whenwastegenerationrates outpace the capacity of existingwastemanagement systems, uncapturedplasticwastecanflowintotheoceansfromriversandwaterways,orwashouttoseaduringstormsorwiththetides.The United States also has a large coastal population, and the amount of plastic wastegeneratedpercapitaoutranksthatineachofthefoursoutheastAsiancountries.Accordingtoouranalysis,theamountofplasticwastegeneratedeachdayinthecoastalUnitedStatesisthehighestofanycountryintheworld.Wearefortunatetoalsohavearobustwastemanagementsystem – garbage and recycling collection,material sorting, and treatment either in sanitarylandfillsorbyincineration.However,becauseofthesheeramountofplasticwastewecreate,even the small amount that is accidentally lost, or intentionally littered, adds up to a largeamountavailabletoentertheocean.Notallplasticdebrisinthemarineenvironmentoriginatesfromimproperlymanagedwasteonland.Abandoned,lostorotherwisediscardedfishinggearisalsoaverylargesourceofplasticdebris,althoughnoestimateoftheglobalinputyetexists.Naturaldisasters,suchashurricanes,floodsandtsunamis,caninjectatremendousamountofdebrisofallmaterialsintotheoceaninasingle,short-termevent.Andmicroplasticsfromavarietyofsources–includingmicrobeadsin cosmetics, dust from tire wear, fragments of agricultural films, and fibers from syntheticclothing–canentertheoceanbypathwayssuchasrunoffintowaterways,andstormwaterandwastewateroutflows.FromsourcestosolutionsOceanplasticspollutionisaglobalproblemthathasgrowninsizeandscalesincethe1950sasanunintendedconsequenceofrapidlyincreasingproductionanduseoftheseinnovativeand,in many cases, indispensible materials. Plastics were never intended to contaminate ouroceans, rivers, lakesandsoils,posingrisks towildlifeandpotentiallyevenhumanhealth.Yetwe are faced with ever increasing applications and use of these materials, without a clearstrategy for management at the end of their useful life. Preventing plastics from becomingmarinedebris requiresa suiteofactions from local toglobal scales, carriedoutby individualconsumers as well asmaterial and productmanufacturers; bymunicipal, state and nationalgovernments aswell as international bodies. These actions should always be appropriate toplace–thereisnosilverbullet,orone-size-fits-allsolution.

14Jambeck,J.etal.,2015.Plasticwasteinputsfromlandintotheocean.Science347,768-771.

ContainthewasteThemostpressingshort-termneedtopreventmarinedebrisistoensurethatnowasteisleftuncontained in the natural environment, whether terrestrial, freshwater or marine. Thisrequires global investment inwastemanagement systems,especiallywhereno formalwastemanagement currently exists. In the 2015 Jambeck study,we estimated that if plasticwastegeneration were capped and total waste management achieved in the top ten emittingcountriesby2025,thentheannualinputintotheoceanswouldbereducedby77%.EvenincountriesliketheUnitedStates,wherewehaveestablishedcollectionandprocessingofwaste,wemustensurethattrashcansareliddedandemptiedbeforetheyoverflow,andthatthe stray candy wrapper is caught before it blows away in the wind. We must invest ininfrastructurethatstreamlinescollectionandprocessingofrecyclablematerials.Thedesignofwaste management systems anywhere in the world must be tailored for the needs of aparticularcommunity,understandinghow,whereandwhatkindofwasteisgenerated,aswellasexistingsocialandculturalpractices,toensurecommunitybuy-inandlong-termsuccess inmanagingwaste.CleanupuncontainedwasteCleaning up litter on land, especially in rivers and on coastlines, will continue to be animportantstrategytopreventwastefromenteringtheocean.Seeminglysimpleinterventionscanbeextremelyeffective,suchasBaltimore’sMr.TrashWheel,asolar-andhydro-poweredriver trash collection device with a personality, which has prevented 1.7 million pounds ofdebrisfromflowingintotheChesapeakeBay.Cleanupsarealsoeffectivewaystoengageandeducate citizens as volunteers, as demonstrated by the nearly 250 million pounds of trashcollectedbynearly13millionvolunteersaroundtheworldsince1985inOceanConservancy’sInternationalCoastalCleanup.Cleaning up debris in the sea itself is more challenging and resource intensive, but can beeffectivewhentargetinglargeitemsinnearshoreareas,orcollectingfloatingtrashbeforeitcanmoveoffshoreandbreakapartintomillionsofmicroplastics.FishingforLitterprogramsengagethose in the fishing industry to remove litter from the sea in the course of normal fishingactivity, at the same time raising awareness of the importance of keeping trash andderelictfishinggearoutof theocean inthe firstplace.ProjectAWARE’sDiveAgainstDebrisprogramengages scuba diving enthusiasts to participate in underwater debris cleanups to not onlyreportandremovetrashontheseafloor,butalsotoserveascitizenscientists,collectingdataontypesandamountsofdebrisinordertoinformpreventionefforts.SustainablesolutionsImprovedwastecollectionandcleanupofuncapturedwasteareimperativeintheshortterm,but long-term, sustainable solutions to ocean plastics pollution must address the increasingamountsofplasticsinusebyemployingavarietyofstrategiesto:eliminateunnecessarywaste;increasedemandforrecoveryandrecycling;andidentifysuitablealternativeswherepossible.Insomeinstances,whereplasticsareunnecessaryforfunction(orareknowntobeparticularlyharmful),amandatedbanmaybeappropriate.TheMicrobead-FreeWatersActpassedbythe

U.S.Congressin2015,banningplasticmicrobeadsinrinse-offcosmetics,isanexampleofthistypeof action. Inother cases, a reduction inuse canbe incentivizedby governmentpolicies(municipal, state, or national), such as mandated fees for single-use retail bags. Acomplimentarypositiveincentivetoreducesingle-usebagsisprovidedbyindividualbusinessesthatgiveadiscounttocustomerswhobringtheirownbags.Municipalitiesandinstitutionscanpromotewastereductionnotonlybyofferingseparaterecyclingandfoodwastecollection,butalsobymakingimprovementstoinfrastructure,suchasinstallingwaterbottlerefillstationstofacilitate use of reusable, rather than single-serve, water bottles, thereby reducing plasticwaste.Finally,campaignsbyindividualsororganizationscaninfluencechangesinbehaviorthatwillreducewaste.Forexample,theplasticdrinkingstrawmovementhasrecentlygrownfromasimple“SkiptheStraw”pledgetorefuseanunneededdrinkingstraw,toanall-outsocialmediablitz promoted by conservation organizations and celebrities alike, driving strong responsesfrommajor consumer goods companies down to stand-alone restaurants and individuals. Asconsumers,weallmakeinnumerabledecisionseverydayaboutproductsthatwebuy,useandthrowaway.Althoughwebearultimateresponsibilityforourowndecisions,goodchoicescanbemadeeasierbyemployingavarietyofstrategiestoencouragewastereduction.Perhapswithanultimatelong-termgoalofzerowaste,stepsshouldbetakentobringvaluetoproductsandmaterialsattheendoftheirusefullife.Thiswillultimatelyincreasedemandforreuse, recovery and recycling over disposal. Manufacturers engaged in product stewardshipagree to share responsibility for their end-of-life product, such as through take-back andrecycling programs, for example. A successful example of cross-brand product recovery andrecycling is demonstrated in communities with container deposit schemes for beveragecontainersincludingplasticbottles,glassbottlesandaluminumcans.Becauseoftheuniformityinmaterialsusedacrossbrands,andefficientrecoveryincentivizedbythedeposit,recyclingofthesematerialsismorecosteffectiveandthewastematerialmorevaluable.Withattentionatthe product design stage to ensurematerial value at the end of life, market incentives canreducethenumberofone-waytripsmostitemseventuallytaketothelandfillorincinerator,ortheenvironment.Finally,continuedscientific research to informevidence-baseddecision-making isessential toaddressingtheproblemofoceanplasticspollution,sothatlimitedresourcescanbeefficientlyandeffectivelydeployedtothegreatestbenefit.Thisdoesnotmeanthatwemustwaitforallscientificquestionstobedefinitivelyansweredbeforetakingaction.Rather,preventioneffortswillbemostsuccessfulwhenresearchisfirstundertakentounderstandthelocalsourcesanddriving factors behind them. For example, Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program andCleanVirginiaWaterwaysuseddatato identifyballoon litteras itemsofconcern,withnearly9,000balloonscollectedonVirginiabeachesduring9yearsofInternationalCoastalCleanups15.In response, they conducted public surveying and interviews to understand thewho,where,whenandwhybehindmassballoonreleases inVirginiaand,withthisknowledge,designeda

15Witmer,V.,K.RegisterandL.McKay,2017.BalloonReleaseResearchinVirginiaandReducingBalloonDebristhroughCommunity-BasedSocialMarketing.VirginiaCoastalZoneManagementProgram(VirginiaDepartmentofEnvironmentalQuality),117pp.

community-based social marketing campaign to discourage balloon releases and providecontext-specificalternatives,amoretargetedandinformedstrategythanasimpleinformation-sharingeducationcampaignalone.ConcludingremarksIn summary, to reduce the impact of man-made trash on the oceans, wildlife and humanhealth,itisimperativethatwepreventdebris,especiallythatmadeofplastics,fromenteringthe ocean. There is an immediate and critical need to assist countries that have inadequatewastemanagementsystems,andthereismuchmoreweneedtodoinourowncommunitiesaswell.Nomatterwhereintheworldwechoosetowork,anecessaryfirststepistoclearlyidentifyandmeasurethelocalsourcesofoceandebris, includingitemtypesandlocations,aswellasthepathwaysthedebrisfollowsfromthesourcetothesea.Second,wemustdeterminethedriversbehindeachsource,whichcouldbealackofinfrastructure,aconsequenceofproductdesignor use, or factors influencinghumanbehavior.With this information in hand,we canbest focus our time, attention and resources to design appropriate interventions that willreduceinputfromthesource.Interventionsmayberelativelysimpleandinexpensive,suchasinstallingandservicingliddedtrashcans.Interventionsmaybeengineered,suchasdebristrapsinwaterways or storm drains. Interventionsmay involve technological design innovations toensure effective recovery and recyclability, and they may aim to influence human behaviorawayfroma“disposable”mentalitytoreduceunnecessaryusageandwaste.Interventionsmaybe legislated tomandate or incentivize actions by plastics producers, productmanufacturersandconsumersthatwillultimatelyreducetheinputofplasticstotheocean.Finally,wemustcontinuetoincreasewasteliteracyandraisepublicawarenessofthisprobleminordertodriveaction by consumers, producers, and governments alike, to both reduce unnecessaryconsumptionandrevolutionizeourmanagementofwaste.Oceanplasticspollutionisanenvironmentalproblemthatisglobalinscope,inimpact,andinresponsibility.Weall have a stake in a clean andhealthyocean.Whether in towns, cities orstates in the United States, or through international partnerships, we must work togethertowardsshort-termandlong-termsolutionsascitizens,scientists,businesses,governmentsandpeople.Thankyoufortheopportunitytotestify.Ilookforwardtothedaywhenouroceansarecleanbecauseoftheworkwehaveaccomplishedtogether.

Figure1:MicroplasticscollectedfromsurfaceseawaterintheNorthPacificOceanbytowingaplanktonnet.Microplasticsaretypicallydefinedasparticlessmallerthan5mminsize,andarecomposedofavarietyofplastics.Microplasticsmaybemanufacturedatthissize,suchastheindustrial resin pellet indicated by the orange arrow, but most are generated when largerplasticitemsbreakapartuponexposuretosunlight.Photocredit:JessicaDonohue/SeaEducationAssociation.

Figure2:LitterpiledhighandwideonMarquezBeach,Peru.Photocredit:NicholasMallos/OceanConservancy

Figure3:Beveragecans,bottles,foodwrappersandothertrashinacompositeofunderwaterphotosoftheseafloorintheharborinNewport,RI.Photocredit:RachaelMiller/RozaliaProject

Figure4:Plasticbagatadepthof2500m(8202ft)atHAUSGARTEN,thedeepseaobservatoryoftheAlfredWegenerInstituteinFramStraitintheArctic.Photocredit:MelanieBergmann/OFOS,AlfredWegenerInstitute

Figure5:ANOAAdiverremovesderelictfishinggearfromareefhabitatatMidwayAtoll.Photocredit:NOAAMarineDebrisProgram