THE OCEANS AND THE WASTES OF 

 HUMAN SOCIETIES 



Edward D. Goldberg 



Scripps Institution of Oceanography 



University of California at San Diego 



La Jolla, California 92093 



INTRODUCTION 



The possible loss or restricted use of marine resources as a consequence of 

 pollutant introduction has been recognized for the past three decades. This under- 

 standing developed when the use of nuclear energy was in its infancy and the 

 possibility existed that highly toxic, artificially produced radionuclides could enter 

 the atmosphere and the oceans. Scientists from several countries sought to define the 

 acceptable levels of these radionuclides that the oceans might accommodate without 

 jeopardizing public health or the integrity of marine ecosystems. Discharges of such 

 materials have been regulated using the most reliable scientific information with the 

 result that the world ocean does not appear to have dangerous levels of radioactivity. 



During these last 30 years, a series of catastrophic events has identified other 

 polluting materials entering the marine environment. Perhaps most notorious is the 

 Minimata Bay incident. Mercury and its compounds from the Chisso Chemical Cor- 

 poration, which manufactures plastics and industrial chemicals, were discharged in 

 wastes to Minimata Bay and entered the marine food chain. Fishermen, their 

 families, and their pets ingested methyl mercury chloride and were afflicted with a 

 serious neurological disease that caused over a hundred mortalities and a greater 

 number of morbidities. The disease first became apparent in 1953, and the active 

 agent was identified in 1963 as methyl mercury chloride. Curiously, this compound is 

 the dominant natural form of mercury in marine fish. Although the financial losses 

 to the Japanese are difficult to estimate, they appear to be in the hundreds of millions 

 of dollars. 



Kepone, a halogenated hydrocarbon used as a pesticide, was promiscuously 

 released by a chemical manufacturing concern to the James River, which drains into 

 southern Chesapeake Bay. This activity was discovered after workers in the produc- 

 tion plant became ill through exposure. The carcinogen contaminated the fish and 

 shellfish in the estuarine environment, resulting in a ban against their commercial 

 harvesting. Losses of hundreds of millions of dollars to the fishing industry are 

 estimated. 



Thus, as a result of scientific intuition and catastrophes, a large number of 

 pollutants have been identified within the oceans (NOAA, 1979). This awareness, 

 coupled with monitoring activities, has reduced the possibility of other catastrophic 

 events. Few of these identified pollutants cause any apparent damage to the living or 

 nonliving resources of the sea or to humans who consume fish and shellfish or are 

 exposed in recreational areas. Regulatory actions have reduced the release of other 

 pollutants to the oceans. 



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