Environmental Pollution Causes Endangered Animals

The problem of garbage in the sea from day to day is increasingly unstoppable. This has a tremendous impact on marine life. In addition to polluting the oceans, rubbish is also consumed and poisoned by marine animals. For example, plastic waste. Plastics are synthetic organic polymers. The lightweight, strong and durable plastic character makes plastic widely used for manufacturing various kinds of products, especially packaging products. The University of Georgia study released in 2016 found that the oceans in Indonesia are the second in the world to store the most plastic waste.

At the "One Day Seminar on Marine Tropical Diversity and Sustainability" seminar at the Winter School Program 2018, Thursday (1/25) at Ged B 101 FMIPA UI, Dr. rer. nat. Mufti Petala Patria, M.Sc., Department of Biology marine expert FMIPA UI in her presentation explained that more than 8 million tons of plastic waste is discharged into the sea each year, around 80% of which comes from activities carried out on land, namely industry, sewerage, waste that does not processed and tourism. Whereas 20% comes from activities carried out in the sea, namely fisheries, sea transportation, and the offshore industry. In his presentation, it was also explained that along with the amount of garbage that continues to swell in the Indonesian sea even in the whole world, the life of these marine animals is increasingly threatened. For example, turtles are often caught in garbage collections and even eat plastic and microplastic waste because they consider food waste, even though turtles are one of the most protected marine animals, not only for sea turtles, but also for sea birds and sea lions.

The danger of garbage containing chemical substances in animals is to cause physical injuries in the intestinal tract, translocation to other tissues or organs, significant weight loss, significant reduction in eating activities, and developmental disabilities. Dr. rer. nat. Mufti Petala Patria, M.Sc, said that this problem is not only the responsibility of the government or related institutions, but the community also needs to play an active and contributing role. For example, to behave wisely in using plastic-based products, even as much as possible avoid the use of items that have the potential to become waste, not just plastic, thereby reducing the production of plastic waste or the like to create a clean and healthy environment.

If the problem of plastic waste is left, according to Dr. rer. nat. Mufti Petala Patria, M.Sc., will have an impact on the social and economic conditions of the Indonesian people, especially those living in coastal areas and small islands because it results in a decrease in state revenues from the marine sector. Dr. rer. nat. Mufti Petala Patria, M.Sc., explained that the effort to manage waste into a useful product is also very important to be improved, supported by technology that is currently developing, for example converting waste into energy, besides bio-plastic packaging made from cassava or plant based others are also potentially developed. But the most important thing is the awareness of each individual to reduce plastic pollution.