Ocean pollution to be studied

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33450, 4 February 1974, Page 24

Ocean pollution to be studied

Can ocean pollution — even at levels considered safe for drinking [water — seriously harm [the marine life on which ;man depends heavily for food and oxygen? What [will be the condition of [the oceans in the year 2000 if pollutants are [added continually at the [present rate? In an attempt to find the answers, seven oceanographic institutions in the United States, Canada and Britain have joined in a $6 m assessment of the long-term effects of ocean pollution. The study will go on for six years. In varying degrees, all I water contains pollutants [ such as dissolved metal I compounds. ' Each pollutant has a content level which is considered safe for humans. For drinking water, for example, the level is so low that

people are normally unaware of any foreign content. Some scientists speculate that ocean pollution, even at extremely low levels, can, over a long period, cause harm to the microscopic marine plants and animals known collectively as plankton. They fear that destruction of the drifting plant life could eliminate a major means for replenishing the oxygen of the atmosphere. Even partial elimination of such plants would undermine the food chain that supports the forms of marine life on which much of mankind is dependent. In the C.E.P.E.X. project, large silo-shaped plastic bags of sea water will be suspended in the seas off British Columbia and Scotland. They will be stocked with marine plants and animals. Then pollutants such as metals, pesticides and petroleum products will be introduced. — (Copyright,! “New York Times” news service).