Science institute

Plastic soup

Plastic in zee heeft ernstige gevolgen voor al het leven in de zee en zelfs daarbuiten. De gezondheid van de zee heeft een enorme impact op onze eigen gezondheid. Daarom zetten wij ons in voor een plasticvrije zee. Doe je mee? Wat is plastic soep eigenlijk en waarom is het zo slecht voor de zeeën en de oceanen? Wij vertellen je meer over het ontstaan, de oorzaak en de gevolgen. En minstens zo belangrijk: wat je ertegen kan doen.

The impact of plastic waste on seals

More and more often we see that seals get entangled raken in fishing nets and end up in our rehabilitiation centre. In addition, the food of seals is polluted; fish mistake plastic for food and they eat it. The seals that eat these fish automatically get the plastic in their bodies. Or seals themselves swallow stray plastic. This plastic waste damages the stomach and intestines and is not digested. The stomach is 'full' and the animal can no longer eat.

What is the plastic soup?

You've probably heard the word 'plastic soup'. But do you know where this word comes from? In the Pacific Ocean, the sea between Asia, Australia and America, an island has emerged from about 79,000,000 kilograms of garbage that floats together. It concerns an area that is 3 times the size of France! These are descriptions that are very difficult to imagine, but it is clear that it is a gigantic pile of plastic waste. This plastic collection in the sea was first called the plastic soup.

Causes of plastic soup

What causes the plastic soup? We do that. Humans. We make the plastic products and let them end up in nature. Through various detours such as the wind, sewers, canals or rivers, the waste eventually ends up in the sea. Only a small part ends up directly.

Read more about the causes of plastic soup

From macroplastic to microplastic (and nanoplastic)

Plastic that floats in the sea will continue to break down over time. Marcoplastic breaks down into microplastic (less than 5 mm). And eventually microplastic will break down further into nanoplastic (smaller than 100 nanometers). Hazardous substances that cannot be seen with the naked eye have disastrous consequences for all life in the sea. And the life that depends on the sea. Including us humans.

Lees meer over micro- en nanoplastic