The Impacts Of Beach Pollution

What is beach pollution? Beach pollution lies along the edge of an ocean, lake, or river, caused by plastic, trash, sewage, pesticides, and oil. So, it's a little different from ocean pollution, which is pollution that occurs in the waters but with the same cause.

Beach pollution has harmful impacts on animals and humans. Let's find out together!

• Animals

Beach pollution is estimated to affect more than 800 species of wildlife in the world. Animals may mistake the floating plastic as food. It is causing them to suffocate, internally injured, or starve. Plastic pollution has become a huge problem, even affecting the reproductive rates of sea turtles because it changes the temperature of the sand where hatching typically occurs.

• Public Health

Beach pollution gives a serious health risk to people in direct contact with dirty water or sand. The EPA estimates that up to 3.5 million people will become ill from contact with sewage while swimming. Children are most vulnerable because they tend to swallow more water. Stomachache is the most common. In addition, swimmers can also suffer from neurological disorders, respiratory ailments, pink eye, earaches, meningitis, and hepatitis.

• Economic

Water pollution that occurs due to beach pollution will certainly make the beach lose visitors. It will impact the tourism industry and the local economy in the area.

Helping keep the beach clean is our responsibility. We can take several personal actions to help reduce beach pollution, such as minimizing plastic use, properly disposing of trash, avoiding chemical pesticides, and many more. So, let’s work together to save our beaches and ocean!

References:

Hu, S. (2020, August 21). Beach pollution 101. NRDC. Retrieved August 25, 2022, from https://www.nrdc.org/stories/beach-pollution-101

Weber, M. (2022, May 14). Beach pollution: Causes and effects (& tips for prevention!). Eco Redux. Retrieved August 25, 2022, from https://www.ecoredux.com/beach-pollution-causes