Water Pollution
In 2020, the World Wildlife Fund released its second report on the study of Canada’s freshwater basins. This report found that pollution is one of the most significant threats to Canada’s freshwater, finding that more than half of the sub-watersheds studied scored either ‘Poor’ or ‘Fair’ in the water quality studies. In light of these concerns, the World Wildlife Fund focuses on several suggestions to improve the health of our freshwater including increased and consistent monitoring, community-based monitoring, open and available data, and the creation of standard protocols and guidelines for analysis.
Unfortunately, pollution is not specific to freshwater and is also a major problem facing our oceans – a topic we will be diving into next.
Microbeads in Marine Environments
To understand some of the legal problems facing the regulation of pollution in the ocean, let’s focus on one type of pollution – a physical rather than chemical toxin called microbeads. Microbeads are a type of microplastic, very tiny pieces of manufactured polyethylene plastic that are added as exfoliants to health and beauty products, such as some cleansers and toothpaste. The problems begin when microbeads are flushed down the tap and eventually end up in the aquatic food chain. To fish and other small aquatic organisms, such as plankton, microbeads look a lot like food. Not only does this mean that microbeads move their way up the food chain when plankton or small fish are ingested by larger fish, but researchers have also found that the smallest organisms are eating microbeads after mistaking them for real food and consequently starving to death, due to a false sense of fullness.
After discovering this problem, a few large cosmetic and beauty product manufacturers promised to institute a voluntary ban on microbeads in their products including Unilever, L’Oréal, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson and Colgate-Palmolive.
Voluntary action by companies is an important step and consumer choices can also significantly limit the sale of products containing microbeads, but what are some of the legal options available to limit this dangerous marine pollution? How can this be expanded to other types of water pollution?
In June 2017, the Government of Canada took action, passing the Microbeads in Toiletries Regulation, which is designed to prohibit the manufacture, import and sale of toiletries, non-prescription drugs, and natural health products that contain plastic microbeads. All provisions were in place by July 1, 2019. Microbeads have also been added to Schedule 1 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, which classifies them as a toxic substance.
Canada is not the only country with a ban on microbeads. Countries including New Zealand and the United Kingdom are also joining forces to prohibit the manufacture and sale of these products. Unsurprisingly, global cooperation is necessary for this to truly have an effect because no matter how hard humans may try to create aquatic borders, ocean waters and the animals that live there pay little attention to these human-drawn distinctions.
Microbeads are a serious form of pollution currently facing our oceans and these legislative attempts are important, however, these are not the only type of plastic clogging our waters. Limiting single-use plastics such as plastic bags and straws or microplastics in clothing or food wares is also crucial for the future protection of our oceans and for the health of all those animals living there.