It reaches the oceans through rivers, runoff, atmospheric deposition and direct discharges. More than 80% arises from land-based sources. It is a complex mixture of toxic metals, plastics, manufactured chemicals, petroleum, urban and industrial wastes, pesticides, fertilizers, pharmaceutical chemicals, agricultural runoff, and sewage. Methods: Topic-focused reviews that examine the effects of ocean pollution on human health, identify gaps in knowledge, project future trends, and offer evidence-based guidance for effective intervention.Įnvironmental Findings: Pollution of the oceans is widespread, worsening, and in most countries poorly controlled. (3) Propose priorities for interventions to control and prevent pollution of the seas and safeguard human health. (2) Inform policy makers, government leaders, international organizations, civil society, and the global public of these threats. Goals: (1) Broadly examine the known and potential impacts of ocean pollution on human health. The nature and magnitude of these impacts are only beginning to be understood. It poses serious threats to human health and well-being. Ocean pollution is an important, but insufficiently recognized and inadequately controlled component of global pollution. It is responsible for an estimated nine million premature deaths per year, enormous economic losses, erosion of human capital, and degradation of ecosystems. Background: Pollution – unwanted waste released to air, water, and land by human activity – is the largest environmental cause of disease in the world today.

Oceans by Simon Holland