Ostia, Italy
CNN
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The Mediterranean Sea may conjure images of luxurious beach holidays, delicious seafood dishes, and endless sandy beaches, but its waters are becoming increasingly toxic.
More than 87% of the Mediterranean Sea, which stretches from the Atlantic Ocean into Africa, Europe and Asia, is contaminated with pollutants such as microplastics, toxic metals and industrial chemicals, according to a July 2024 report from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Globally, water pollution is linked to 1.4 million premature deaths and is a major problem for the 150 million people who live along the Mediterranean coast and the 270 million tourists who flock to the basin each year.
The Mediterranean Sea is bordered by 46,000 kilometers (nearly 29,000 miles) of coastline across 22 countries, many of which have different environmental standards and practices.
Egypt is the biggest contributor to the amount of plastic entering the Mediterranean Sea, with 250,000 tonnes, followed by Turkey with 110,000 tonnes and Italy with 40,000 tonnes, according to the group, all of which are part of a total of 1.9 million plastic pieces per square metre.
Medical experts consulted for the WWF report said humans can ingest microplastics from the aquatic environment through consumption of marine organisms and water (both drinking water and bottled water).
“Consumption of the three main commercial fish species (sea bass and two mackerel species) could result in the ingestion of more than 840 microplastic pieces per year. [and] “The maximum risk could reach 11,000 people due to the large consumption of bivalve mollusks (e.g. mussels, clams),” the report said, noting that contamination from eating shrimp was less likely.
“When we take into account exposure from outside the aquatic environment, such as through air and food, we could be ingesting more than 100,000 microplastic particles every day.”
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Ostia is a popular beach resort not far from Rome.
In Ostia, a seaside town near Rome, Pierluigi Capozzi looks out at the sea from his restaurant, Mediterraneo. “Maybe 50 years ago, people didn’t know what we know now about pollution and plastic,” Capozzi told CNN. “But you see young people having no problem throwing plastic bottles into the sea, or littering on the ground with cigarettes and trash.”
But he sees a silver lining: Ten years ago, the sand outside his seaside restaurant was coated with chemicals from cargo ships that crossed the shipping lane visible from the shore every morning. “Thanks to stronger regulations, that pollution is gone now,” he says.
According to the Mediterranean Alliance, which works to defend fishing through better practices, the Mediterranean is one of the world’s greatest treasures of marine and coastal diversity.
Severe pollution is said to be adversely affecting the ocean’s rich flora and fauna. Despite taking up only 0.7% of the world’s oceans, the oceans are home to 7.5% of the world’s marine animals and 18% of the world’s marine plants.
Fishing is a 4.6 billion euro industry in the Mediterranean and water pollution has a major impact on the livelihoods of the 180,000 people who depend on it for their livelihoods, WWF says.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, Mediterranean fish stocks have fallen by 34% over the past 50 years due to overfishing and the effects of plastic waste in the ocean.
“Some 730 tonnes of plastic waste enter the Mediterranean Sea every day,” the group said. “Plastic waste makes up 95-100% of floating marine litter and 50% of litter on the seabed. In terms of tonnes, plastics could potentially outweigh fish stocks.”
Hazem Goda/AFP/Getty Images
A crowded beach in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, Egypt, July 2024.
A study carried out in 2023 by the Greek Archipelago Institute for Marine Conservation examined 25 marine animals, including eight dolphins, two monk seals and 15 sea turtles, and found microplastic pollutants in all of them: “In particular, a total of 10,639 microplastic fibres were found in the digestive tracts of dead marine mammals and turtles, among other types of plastics.”
Raffaele Malferra, professor of advanced sciences at Vanvitelli University in Naples, said plastic pollution was an urgent global problem that went beyond just harming the environment.
He cites a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine highlighting the link between micro- and nanoplastics known as MNPs and certain cardiovascular diseases: “Current knowledge suggests that MNPs can enter the bloodstream through ingestion or inhalation and cause inflammation and oxidative stress. Over time, chronic exposure to MNPs accelerates the progression of atherosclerosis and increases the likelihood of cardiovascular events.”
Plastic pollution is considered a “forever” pollutant, meaning once it gets in, it’s there to stay.
Beachgoer Francesco Pacelli told CNN it broke his heart to see people leaving trash and bottles in the water.
“It’s very important to keep the beaches clean so the water looks better,” he said. “In my opinion, that’s very important, especially for the fish and all the plastic animals that are floating around.”
A dream Mediterranean vacation could quickly turn into a nightmare unless humans do their part to stop the scourge of water pollution.
