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<P><A HREF="http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/issues/Issue.06-14-2007/cover/Article.cover_story/print"><U></U><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman">http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/issues/Issue.06-14-2007/cover/Article.cover_story/print</FONT></U></A>
<BR><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Drowning in Plastic </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">Every bit of plastic ever made is still with us—and it’s wreaking havoc on the ocean.</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Jun 14, 2007</FONT><FONT FACE="Times New Roman"> </FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">By Kera Abraham</FONT>
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<P><A HREF="http://marine-litter.gpa.unep.org/documents/World's_largest_landfill.pdf"><U></U><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman">http://marine-litter.gpa.unep.org/documents/World's_largest_landfill.pdf</FONT></U></A>
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<P><FONT COLOR="#000080" FACE="Times New Roman">An excerpt:</FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="TimesNewRoman">"It’s not just entanglement and indigestion that are problems caused by plastic debris,</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="TimesNewRoman">however. There is a darker side to pollution of the ocean by ubiquitous plastic fragments.</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="TimesNewRoman">As these fragments float around , they accumulate the poisons we manufacture for</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="TimesNewRoman">various purposes that are not water-soluble. It turns out that plastic polymers are sponges</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="TimesNewRoman">for DDT, PCBs and nonylphenols -oily toxics that don’t dissolve in seawater. Plastic</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="TimesNewRoman">pellets have been found to accumulate up to one million times the level of these poisons</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="TimesNewRoman">that are floating in the water itself. These are not like heavy metal poisons which affect</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="TimesNewRoman">the animal that ingests them directly. Rather, they are what might be called “second</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="TimesNewRoman">generation “ toxics. Animals have evolved receptors for elaborate organic molecules</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="TimesNewRoman">called hormones, which regulate brain activity and reproduction. Hormone receptors</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="TimesNewRoman">cannot distinguish these toxics from the natural estrogenic hormone, estradiol, and when</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="TimesNewRoman">the pollutants dock at these receptors instead of the natural hormone, they have been</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="TimesNewRoman">shown to have a number of negative effects in everything from birds and fish to humans.</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="TimesNewRoman">The whole issue of hormone disruption is becoming one of, if not the biggest</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="TimesNewRoman">environmental issue of the 21</FONT><FONT SIZE=1 FACE="TimesNewRoman">st</FONT> <FONT FACE="TimesNewRoman">Century. Hormone disruption has been implicated in</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="TimesNewRoman">lower sperm counts and higher ratios of females to males in both humans and animals.</FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="TimesNewRoman">Unchecked, this trend is a dead end for any species."</FONT>
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<P><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">Deborah L. DeBiasi</FONT>
<BR><B><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">Email: dldebiasi@deq.virginia.gov</FONT></B>
<BR><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">WEB site address: </FONT><A HREF="file://www.deq.virginia.gov"><U></U><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">www.deq.virginia.gov</FONT></U></A>
<BR><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">Virginia Department of Environmental Quality</FONT>
<BR><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">Office of Water Permit Programs</FONT>
<BR><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">Industrial Pretreatment/Toxics Management Program</FONT>
<BR><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">Mail: P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA 23218</FONT><B><I> <FONT COLOR="#FF0000" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">(NEW!)</FONT></I></B>
<BR><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">Location: 629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA 23219</FONT>
<BR><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">PH: 804-698-4028</FONT>
<BR><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Times New Roman">FAX: 804-698-4032</FONT>
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