[cleanair (OP)]

I recently learned that European companies are dumping nuclear waste from hospitals and factories in Europe in Somalia's unregulated ocean coastline.

🇺🇳 UN envoy to Somalia: ‘Somebody is dumping nuclear material here. There is also lead, and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury.’ Much of it can be traced back to European 🏥 hospitals and factories.

Some of the waste such as hexachlorobenzene (HCB) is denied for processing in Europe and is therefor dumped in Somalia’s oceans. Locals report that German and Danish shipping companies recently dumped 60,000 barrels of HCB from Australia.

One gram of HCB is enough to contaminate one billion gallons (over 3 billion litres) of water.

A recent study (2019) by Royal Society of Chemistry showed that Humpback whales are getting sick by HCB contamination, causing a variety of health effects, DNA damage and cancer. HCB dominates the contaminant profiles in whales.

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2019/ra/c9ra05352b


whale-hcb-pollution-335w.png (14.31 kB . 335x189 - viewed 5913 times)

Another example: Off the coast of Los Angeles, as many as half a million barrels of the potent and highly toxic insecticide DDT are scattered across the ocean floor, waiting to be released into the water. This was discovered a few years ago by a Los Angeles Times investigation. DDT has already been found in Southern California 🐬 dolphins and a recent study linked DDT to an aggressive cancer in 🦭 sea lions.

https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-coast-ddt-dumping-ground/

Upon further research I discovered that the scale of the dumping of waste is much bigger than many people may expect.

(2021) Scientists: “there are massive chemical dumps in the ocean we know almost nothing about”
Industrial companies have used the ocean as a dumping ground for toxic waste. Hazardous industrial chemicals and radioactive waste have been accumulating in the ocean for 150 years.

Industrial companies treat the ocean as a bottomless pit with the idea “out of sight, out of mind”.
Source: https://grist.org/accountability/there-are-massive-chemical-dumps-in-the-gulf-we-know-almost-nothing-about/

A recent study showed that almost 90% of all seabirds have toxic pollution in their bodies. In the past decades, 67 percent of all seabirds have died. Many seabird species could become extinct in the coming decades.

99% of Seabirds Will Have Toxic Pollution In Their Body Within Decades
A recent study found a 67 percent decline in seabird populations between 1950 and 2010. “Essentially seabirds are going extinct,” says Wilcox. “Within decades.”
Sources: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0129342
https://www.ecowatch.com/seabirds-plastic-pollution-2609353767.html

Dozens of death whale babies that washed up in Norway in recent years show that they are already contaminated with deadly levels of toxic chemicals shortly after they are born.

Dead baby orca reveals harmful chemical levels in baby whales
https://www.livescience.com/orca-whales-toxicology.html

Japan recently denied a shipment of whale meat because it was highly contaminated.

Japan refuses Norway’s toxic whale meat
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/world-on-a-plate/2015/mar/23/japan-refuses-norways-toxic-whale-meat

A ticking time bomb is lying beneath the surface of many European seas. It is estimated that German parts of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea alone contain some 1.6 million metric tonnes of relic munitions. These conventional and chemical weapons threaten human life and the marine environment. The weapons, TNT and other explosives slowly decay, releasing harmful substances like cytotoxic, genotoxic, and carcinogenic chemicals into the water.


trash-nuclear-radioactive-ocean-japan.jpg (13.25 kB . 212x129 - viewed 6065 times)

After 10 years of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the 🇯🇵 Japanese government has decided on Tuesday, April 13th 2021, to start releasing radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean in 2023. According to a German Marine Scientific Research Institute, once the waters are dumped in the ocean, radioactive materials could spread to most of the Pacific Ocean within 57 days and all oceans within a decade, which could cause a disaster for marine life.

---

According to the following article, industrial companies dump a minimum of 180 million tons of toxic chemical and radioactive waste into the oceans per year. By comparison, American society produces 120 tons of waste per year.

https://earthisland.org/journal/index.php/articles/entry/over_180m_tons_of_toxic_waste_dumped_into_worlds_oceans_rivers_and_lakes_ea

Questions:

1. how much nuclear and chemical waste is dumped in the oceans each year? Are there initiatives to monitor it?
2. what will the effect be for the ocean or the planet when the waste dumping continues at the current rate?

[chiralSPO]

long story short: we have dumped truly massive amounts of pollutants into the ocean (and continue to do so). We have done so directly (by just pumping the stuff out into the ocean or dumping it overboard), and indirectly, through uncontrolled releases on land that eventually find their way into the ocean by rivers, or by air (gaseous forms of volatile compounds, aerosols, dust, wind-blown debris etc.)

There used to be a common phrase, "dilution is the solution to pollution." Unfortunately, this is utter delusion (see what I did there?)

to answer your questions:
1. I don't know the magnitude of the scale, but it's huge. There are some initiative to try to monitor it, but it's hard.
2. We've f***ed ourselves pretty well.

[vdblnkr34]

Hi. I found solution for all waste on the planet. Need to recycle it back into raw materials. How. Using plasma, but not regular plasma. Plasma of gas, specific one for each substance. Temperatures between 5,000C up to 15,000C.

100% will work.

How to build it, well its not going to be easy. Heat exchange, Radiation, Rays all that can kill any life around while this machine is operational. But, the trials was done in 198x. So, it is very possible to build it again. Many years have passed, technology didnt stand in one place. Why. There only one thing can help gas heat up this much and its a thermal electrical discharge.

[vdblnkr34]

rich people dont care about anything. Only money. They have killed many inventors who could change this world, and it just because they create some competition.  And with in time the world is changing by itself, but now no one want to help anymore.

[Bored chemist]

Hi. I found solution for all waste on the planet. Need to recycle it back into raw materials. How. Using plasma, but not regular plasma. Plasma of gas, specific one for each substance. Temperatures between 5,000C up to 15,000C.

100% will work.

How to build it, well its not going to be easy. Heat exchange, Radiation, Rays all that can kill any life around while this machine is operational. But, the trials was done in 198x. So, it is very possible to build it again. Many years have passed, technology didnt stand in one place. Why. There only one thing can help gas heat up this much and its a thermal electrical discharge.

Who pays the electricity bill?
That's really the only question.

[vdblnkr34]

Who pays the electricity bill?
That's really the only question.

Those people who support hadron collider might do.

 Or send it toward the sun. 

[Bored chemist]

Who pays the electricity bill?
That's really the only question.

Those people who support hadron collider might do.

They don't have enough money.

[vdblnkr34]

They don't have enough money.

Why. Spend it all.

[Bored chemist]

They don't have enough money.

Why. Spend it all.

To pay the electricity bill for this

Need to recycle it back into raw materials. How. Using plasma, but not regular plasma. Plasma of gas, specific one for each substance. Temperatures between 5,000C up to 15,000C.

[vdblnkr34]

To pay the electricity bill for this

Need to recycle it back into raw materials. How. Using plasma, but not regular plasma. Plasma of gas, specific one for each substance. Temperatures between 5,000C up to 15,000C.

A couple of Nuclear PowerPlants, build huge dynamo mashine or something.

[Bored chemist]

To pay the electricity bill for this

Need to recycle it back into raw materials. How. Using plasma, but not regular plasma. Plasma of gas, specific one for each substance. Temperatures between 5,000C up to 15,000C.

A couple of Nuclear PowerPlants, build huge dynamo mashine or something.

The UK produces about 30 million tonnes of waste per year. How much power would it take to plasmolysis that?

[vdblnkr34]

The UK produces about 30 million tonnes of waste per year. How much power would it take to plasmolysis that?

No idea, i never build this. 200 MAMP per device may be.  A lot for sure.  Will need one PowerPlant at least.

[Bored chemist]

The UK produces about 30 million tonnes of waste per year. How much power would it take to plasmolysis that?

No idea, i never build this. 200 MAMP per device may be.  A lot for sure.  Will need one PowerPlant at least.

So, once again.
Who is paying?

[vdblnkr34]

The UK produces about 30 million tonnes of waste per year. How much power would it take to plasmolysis that?

No idea, i never build this. 200 MAMP per device may be.  A lot for sure.  Will need one PowerPlant at least.

So, once again.
Who is paying?

Uncle Sam.

[chiralSPO]

Uncle Sam.

Uncle Sam only has bottomless pockets if it involves killing people in other countries, unfortunately...

[cleanair (OP)]

It is noteworthy that there has been almost no media attention for the nuclear waste dump practices in Somalia's oceans. The issue came to light in the 2005 tsunami that caused hundreds of barrels with nuclear waste to wash up on the beach.


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In one of the most major articles on the case (+/- #1 in Google among just a few), on 'expertsure.com', it is indicated that the nuclear water dump by Japan in 2023 receives a lot of attention while until now, the nuclear waste dump in Somalia has received almost no attention while the severity of the dumped nuclear waste may be much more significant.

Yesterday the BBC reported that radiation levels at the crippled Fukushima reactor site are ten million times normal levels. As the oceans near the damaged nuclear plant are becoming contaminated with increasing amounts of nuclear radiation, concerns are growing about how much radioactive poison the planet’s seas can withstand.

However, although it is not receiving anywhere near as much attention as the unfolding disaster in Japan, the massive amounts of illegally dumped radioactive nuclear waste that are still being thrown into Somalia’s oceans potentially could prove to be an even more deadly catastrophe.

https://www.expertsure.com/2011/03/27/more-illegally-dumped-radioactive-waste-found-on-somalias-coast/


In 2008, pirates in Somalia started to hijack ships in the region, hijacking ever more prolific targets, including arms ships, oil tankers and cruise liners, and extracting huge ransoms from their owners.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ships_attacked_by_Somali_pirates_in_2008

In Western media, the pirates were presented as savages without mentioning a motive related to toxic waste dumping in Somalia's oceans.

Example in The Guardian (not a single mention of 'toxic waste dumping'):

(2008) How savage Somali pirates reign on the world's high seas
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/apr/27/somalia1

According to some sources however, the pirates acted with a motive related to toxic waste dumping in Somalia's oceans by 🇪🇺 European companies.

(2009) Somalia used as toxic dumping ground
National governments and NGOs decried their actions as an affront to international maritime law, but few examined the pirates’ claim that a far greater crime continues in Somalia: the illegal dumping of toxic waste.
https://theecologist.org/2009/mar/01/somalia-used-toxic-dumping-ground

'Toxic waste' behind Somali piracy
Somali pirates have accused European firms of dumping toxic waste off the Somali coast and are demanding an $8m ransom for the return of a Ukrainian ship they captured, saying the money will go towards cleaning up the waste...
https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/toxic-waste-behind-somali-piracy/

[vdblnkr34]

Toxic waste should be stored on the moon.

[Bored chemist]

Toxic waste should be stored on the moon.

So, once again.
Who is paying?

[chiralSPO]

The first principle of Green Chemistry: it is better to prevent waste than to manage waste.

"better" is not a technical term, but it is interpreted to encompass lower risk to people and planet and more predictable business model (changes in waste regulations and waste markets don't matter as much when you have less waste to deal with). In theory, less waste should also be associated with lower costs, but unfortunately when it is effectively free in practice to dump your $ħ!�  on your neighbors, it doesn't look good on the books to treat the waste properly ($$$) or to re-engineer your processes to minimize waste...

[evan_au]

Toxic waste should be stored on the moon.

SpaceX would be happy to launch your payload into Low-Earth Orbit for a mere $2500/kilogram.
- It will cost at least 100 times as much to safely reach the Moon.
- Of course, space launches are a risky business, and no-one wants a canister of nuclear waste dumped onto their country from a failed launch
- So hopefully, no nation would approve toxic waste for launch into space!

For $250,000 per kilogram, it make sense to create less waste, or recycle it more efficiently, or store it more safely on Earth.
- Finland is the first country in the world to complete an underground nuclear waste storage facility
- It is still undergoing commissioning tests
- It is due to start storing real nuclear waste in 2023.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onkalo_spent_nuclear_fuel_repository