Humans contribute to ocean dumping through household waste like detergent and fertilizers that make their way into water systems through drains and landfill runoff. This pollution poisons aquatic life and habitats. Major causes of ocean dumping include industrial waste, farm and city runoff, sewage, and trash from landfills near coasts. Effects on the environment are extensive - it causes dead zones through eutrophication and oxygen depletion, destroys ecosystems, spreads toxins up the food chain, and leads to higher extinction rates of aquatic species. Human health is also impacted as chemicals biomagnify and can lead to poisoning if water is not thoroughly treated. Future impacts may worsen if water quality declines further and demand rises.

1. Explanation
Ocean Dumping

2. What role have humans played?
Humans honestly contribute to this issue on a daily basis, have you ever used..
-Detergent/soap
-fertilizers/chemicals
-thrown trash anywhere (even trashcans!!)
You get the idea, these things go down drains or get put into landfills, and then all of
that pollution can make it’s way into aquatic life. Untreated chemicals are poisonous
to organisms and kill aquatic life easily since it is their habitat.
*everyday 2 million tons of sewage and other forms of waste are dumped into the
world’s water
*2.5 billion people worldwide live without proper sanitation and are drinking your
waste!

3. What are the causes of this issue?
• Industrial and radioactive waste (factories, power
plants, etc.)
• *Run off from farms and coastal cities
• Sewage sludge from sewage plants (some sewage
pipes run directly to ocean)
• Any sewage runs from homes, factories, ships, and
industries
• Landfills on coasts or lack of place to put trash
*Run off is when waste is washed or drained into
oceans

4. What are the effects on the environment?
• One major effect on the environment is called Eutrophication
• Eutrophication is caused by two chemicals, Nitrogen and
Phosphorus. These two chemicals are found in fertilizers and
animal feces. When these chemicals reach the water, they
begin to form algae blooms, which form on the top of water
and block sunlight. Once the algae bloom dies, it sinks to the
bottom of the body of water and bacteria/decomposers eat
away at it. While eating, they remove oxygen from the water.
Once the oxygen level is too low, organisms can’t survive and
the area becomes a dead zone.

6. Effects on the environment (continued)
• Habitats and ecosystems are destroyed due to a surplus of
sediment and toxins
• Pollution/waste is consumed and spread through the food
chain
• 400 dead zones around the world!
• Species that inhabit water have a 5x greater extinction rate
than organisms that live on land
• Deformities in organisms due to consumption of waste/toxins

7. What are the effects on human health?
• If aquatic organisms, for example fish, consume chemicals,
those chemicals get passed through the food chain and are
consumed by humans, which can lead to poisoning and
sickness.
• Another way humans consume chemicals is if water is not
thoroughly cleaned in the water filtration systems, some
bacteria and chemicals get into homes. *Inadequate water
sanitation is 3.1% of all deaths
• more people die from polluted water than all types of
violence (annually)
• Chemicals like fluoride, chlorine, lead, and mercury can lead to
brain damage, Alzheimer's, birth defects, and bone cancer
when consumed by humans.

8. Potential Impacts in the Future
• Water is such an important resource and the demand
for clean water is getting greater as water quality is
getting lower. Our aquatic systems are dying, which
are another food source as well. Waste is clogging up
many sewage systems and is infecting our water. If
we’re seeing these problems now, they can only get
worse, unless we step up.