Keep fish safe from nurdles, recycle plastic bags

Would it surprise you to learn the seemingly innocuous plastic bag we use to bring fish home from the supermarket is contributing to its contamination with highly toxic chemicals way out in the ocean? It’s widely known that plastic bags are often mistaken for jellyfish by endangered sea turtles and other wildlife, which die from ingesting them. But what do you know about “nurdles?” Formed in the ocean from broken down plastic debris, “nurdles” are yet another reason to seriously and immediately rethink our reliance on plastic bags.

Harmless as they may sound, “nurdles” are a serious threat to the food chain, including the fish you may be preparing for dinner. What are nurdles?: Lentil-sized pellets of plastic that absorb and carry harmful polymers including persistent organic pollutants like polychlorinated biphenyls and DDT, also known as POPs. Fish and plankton mistake these little pellets for food, and ingest them. The POPs bioaccumulate in the fatty tissues of fish, becoming something that might end up in the evening meal. A study sponsored by the California State Water Resources Control Board estimated that nurdles now account for 10 percent of plastic ocean debris.

The UN Environment Program recently banned nine more POPs, bringing the total to 21. But these toxins are referred to as “persistent” for a reason, they don’t break down quickly. As nurdles concentrate these poisons tens of thousands of times more than the seawater can, you can help to reduce the bioaccumulation of toxins in fish by keeping plastics out of the ocean. Make it a point to bring your own shopping bag every time you shop. And recycle plastic bags responsibly. Check earth911.com for nearby drop-off spots. Finally, contact your city council to urge them to ban the use of plastic grocery bags as San Francisco, a top ranking Smarter City has done.