Reacción a "Reactions to the dumping of plastic pellets near the Galician coasts"

The dumping of pellets in Galicia is very bad news. These small plastic spheres are highly persistent in the natural environment. Given their buoyancy, they can be dispersed by currents, which makes their recovery very difficult. Over time, some of these plastics will reach the coasts, as we are already seeing, but others will remain out of sight, either because they have been transported offshore or because they increase in density and end up sinking, becoming entangled with organic matter or buried in the sediments.  

In addition to the obvious visual impact, these spheres have a size range that means they can be mistaken for food and consumed by marine organisms; once ingested, the pellets can cause physical damage, such as that generated by altering food intake or by abrasion, and also at other levels, such as endocrine disruption or impacts from associated toxic substances.  

All this is happening at a time when a Global Plastics Treaty is being negotiated, with great difficulty, with a special focus on the marine environment. For this tool to be effective and for the plastic tide suffered by Galicia not to be repeated anywhere in the world, it must be based on scientific evidence and the precautionary principle.