Our coastal, harbor, and waterways cleanups are even more important than we thought:<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2009 \u2014 In the first study to look at what happens over the years to the billions of pounds of plastic waste floating in the world\u2019s oceans, scientists are reporting that plastics \u2014 reputed to be virtually indestructible \u2014 decompose with surprising speed and release potentially toxic substances into the water.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Reporting here today at the 238th<\/sup>\u00a0National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the researchers termed the discovery \u201csurprising.\u201d Scientists always believed that plastics in the oceans were unsightly, but a hazard mainly to marine animals that eat or become ensnared in plastic objects.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cPlastics in daily use are generally assumed to be quite stable,\u201d said study lead researcher Katsuhiko Saido, Ph.D. \u201cWe found that plastic in the ocean actually decomposes as it is exposed to the rain and sun and other environmental conditions, giving rise to yet another source of global contamination that will continue into the future.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n