Europe's seas have high levels of metal and chemical pollution

Following the discovery of some pilot whales off the coast of Fife, in Scotland, where high concentrations of toxic metals were found, the European Environment Agency opened an investigation on European seas. The results are staggering, with the survey of three quarters of the tested areas showing a contamination with a cocktail of dangerous chemicals and heavy metals, dangerous for marine animals and for our own health. 

The most affected sea it’s the Baltic, where 96% of the the assessed area shows problematic levels of some harmful substances, according to the European Environment Agency, followed by the Black Sea (at 91%) and the Mediterranean Sea (at 87 %). It is no coincidence that all three seas are semi-enclosed, especially the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea, which in turn do not flow directly into the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean where dangerous levels of chemicals or metals were detected in 75 % of areas assessed. 

There is however a positive news, that is the general improvement of the situation and the lowering of the levels of toxic substances detected in the seas, especially of heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury or anti-parasite DDT. 

The lead author of the report of the European Environment Agency, the danish Johnny Reker, recalls that «every two and a half minutes a new chemical is created, and we do not know the effects. New pharmaceuticals are coming all the time, and getting into waste water. This is an emerging problem but we do not know what the effects will be». In Germany, for example, some young people have experienced a reduction in fertility and a link between it and pollution is suspected. «However – remember Reker - results from animal experiments and human health monitoring programmes indicate that the presence of endocrine disruptors in the environment, such as PCBs, may be partially responsible for this reduction in fertility». 

Dioxin is found in the waters of the Baltic, where it accumulates in the flesh of fatty fish such as salmon and herring. Pregnant women are advise to don’t eat these as a result, or cut down their intake, as dioxin can restrict growth, cause cancer and adversely affect the immune system. Phthalates, used in plastics, which can act as endocrine disruptors, have been found in the Baltic and Atlantic. 

Despite the closure of many coal-fired power plants and technologies to reduce emissions, mercury continues to pollute European seas and «these things do not disappear when they get into the sea».