the 2012 burntwood lecture revisiting rachel: the legacy of silent spring fifty years on. the sea...

The 2012 Burntwood LectureRevisiting Rachel: The Legacy of Silent Spring Fifty Years On.

The Sea Around Us

Professor Michael H. Depledge DSc.Chair of Environment and Human Health

Aquatic Origins?

• Sir Alistair Hardy• Omega 3• Vernix• Religions

Why focus oceans and health?• 2-3 billion increase in population by 2050 in

developing countries of the tropics and subtropics.

• Sewage disposal largely into estuaries and coastal waters.

• More than half of the world's 7 billion population currently live in cities. Up to 60% by 2030.

• World’s 33 major cities will have > 8 million residents by 2015. 21 of them are coastal cities.

Why focus on coastal communities?

• Industrial manufacture is shifting to developing countries mainly near rivers, estuaries and coasts (with associated pollutant discharges)

• Most of the impacts of climate change will be felt by coastal communities (sea-level rise, storms, altered ocean currents, etc.) Seafood is a vital source of protein (half from coastal aquaculture).

• Reduction or interruption of this food supply could be catastrophic both economically and with regard to the health and wellbeing of more than 2 billion people.

• Oceanic fishing is worth US$ 82 billion annually ($ 2.5 billion in the USA).

• During 1990s, annual catch levelled off at 90 million tons.

• Future increases to be met by aquaculture - frequently involves destruction of coastal wetlands.

• Black Sea, North Atlantic and Caribbean fisheries are collapsing. (Source: Wilson, 2002)

HUMAN HEALTH AND OVERFISHING

Overt health threats from the Ocean

• Drowning (and related injuries)

• Contamination of seafood (algal toxins, microbes, chemical pollutants and radioisotopes)

Harmful algal blooms

RAMP : integrated environmental &human health risk assessment (PAHs)

Indoor cooking

Urine sampling PAH analysis

Oil industry

Hypoxia in the Oceans

Interconnections between humans and the environment: a historical perspective

500 700 900 1100 1300 1500 1700 1900 21000

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

Year

$1 trillion in 1900

$10 trillion in 1967

$52 trillion in 2003

Wo

rld

GD

P (

trill

ion

19

90

do

llars

)

Source: DeLong 1998

Economic History of the World

“ in a cubic mile of seawater there are about $93,000,000 of

gold and $8,500,000 of silver. To treat this volume of water

in a year would require the twice daily filling and emptying

of 200 tanks of water, each 500 feet square and 5 feet

deep”.

Rachel Carson, (1952)

A guide to getting rich quickly !

Each tank = 18.5 swimming pools

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Olympic_Swimming_Pool_-_Fast_Lane.JPG

Contaminants from human activities entering environments.

Conventional• Metals (mercury, cadmium, lead)• Pesticides• Persistent Organic Pollutants• (PCBs, Dioxins, DDT, etc.)• Endocrine disruptors• Oil pollution (PAHs)• Nutrients (N, P)

New (?) (examples) • Brominated Flame Retardants• Plastics• Pharmaceuticals• Platinum• PFOS (perfluoroctane sulfonate)

• Nanomaterials

Contaminants in the Oceans.

PFOA, BDEs, algal toxins, pharmaceuticals, nanomaterials, etc, etc.

DDT, PCBs, Dioxins, PAHs, Other POPs, Metals.

TBT, BPA, EDCs

Dioxin TEQ levels by age: 4 studies

Patterson, ORGANOHALOGEN COMPOUNDS – Volume 66 (2004)

Men

Women

Millions

From Ed Stephan, Global Health Networkhttp://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Animation/pyramid.html

Human Demographics Population ageing e.g. USA

Depledge et al. (2012) Marine Environmental Research, (in press)

Body burdens of contaminants with age

0-17 18-24 25-44 45-64 65+0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Arsenic

Lead

Mercury

PCB28

PFOA

Cadmium

2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexabromobiphenyl

Age group (years)

Rel

ativ

e co

nce

ntr

atio

n o

f en

viro

nm

enta

l to

xica

nt

(AU

)

Rel

ativ

e co

nce

ntr

atio

n o

f h

exab

rom

ob

iph

enyl

(A

U)

Melzer D, Rice N, Depledge MH, Henley WE, Galloway TS 2010. Association Between Serum Perfluoroctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Thyroid Disease in the NHANES Study. Environ Health Perspect :-. doi:10.1289/ehp.0901584

Lang, I.A, Galloway, T.S., Scarlett, A., Henley, W.E., Depledge, M.H., Wallace, R.B. and Melzer, D. (2008). Association of Bisphenol A concentration with medical disorders and laboratory abnormalities in adults. Journal of the American Medical Association, 300(11), 1303-1310.

Are environmental chemicals altering the

incidence and pattern of diseases?

Managing pharmaceuticals in the environment

What about nanomedicines?

16 November 2012

Resistance to antibiotics is one of the greatest threats to modern health, experts say.

The warning from England's chief medical officer and the Health Protection Agency comes amid reports of growing problems with resistant strains of bugs such as E. coli and gonorrhoea.

They said many antibiotics were being used unnecessarily for mild infections, helping to create resistance.

And they urged patients to take more care with how they used medicines.

This is particularly important as there are very few new antibiotics in development.

The chief medical officer, Prof Dame Sally Davies, said: "Antibiotics are losing their effectiveness at a rate that is both alarming and irreversible - similar to global warming

IPCC temperature projections

From IPCC Report Climate Change 2001:

We are here

Climate Predictions

“ Now, in our own lifetime, we are witnessing a startling

alteration of climate..... It is now established beyond

question that a definite change in the arctic climate set in

about 1900, that it became astonishingly marked about

1930, and that it is now spreading into sub-arctic and

temperate regions. The frigid top of the world in very clearly

warming up! ”

Rachel Carson (1952)

Coming soon to a place near you!

Flash floods

Coastal flooding

Storm surges

Heat waves

Infectious diseases

Invasive species

Toxic algal blooms

Hurricanes

Ocean acidification

Ozone

Crop failure

Mitigation & Co-benefits: Artificial Reefs

FishingCommunity

Renewable Energy

Artificial reef -coastal protection

Are health threats from the oceans being under-estimated?

“Human beings cannot bear too much reality”

T.S. Elliot

The Value of Oceans for Wellbeing:

Choosing a hotel room…..

A B C

3 rooms are identical except view from the balcony

$71.94$109.28$91.22

White et al, 2010 (in press)

Pharmaceuticals and Medical Research

– Ecteinascidin 743

• potent anti cancer drug from the Caribbean sea squirt;

– Conotoxin

• Potent anti-pain drug from marine cone snail

– Brevenal

• possible cystic fibrosis agent from Florida Red Tide toxin.

Nobel Prize winning use of marine animal models

Trends in the prevalence of obesity

Source: NASA & WHO

Disease patterns by 2030

1. Aids2. Depression3. Stroke

1. Aids2. Infant Mortality3. Depression

1. Depression2. Heart Attack3. Alzheimers


1. Aids2. Depression3. Stroke


Health and Wellbeing from the Environment

Rockpool rambles

Sailing

Coastal walks

Swimming

Kayaking

SurfingDiving

Bluegym.org.ukBlue Gym = Campaign + Research

Rigorous scientific studies

(RCT, intervention & mechanistic studies)

Does living by the sea improve your health and wellbeing?

B. Wheeler, M. White, W. Stahl-Timmins and M.H. Depledge, 2012 (in press)

Societal issues and Societal issues and political decision political decision

makingmaking

Interconnections in Marine Environment & Health

HABs & pathogens

HABs & pathogens

Emerging pathogensEmerging pathogens

Natural Events

Natural Events

Environmental & ecosystem degradation


Poverty-disease nexus


Toxic chemicals & particles

Toxic chemicals & particles Socio-

economic factors

Socio-economic

factors

Adverse impact on human health


Human population pressure


Loss of food resources


HABs & pathogens

HABs & pathogens


Natural Events

Natural Events







economic factors

Socio-economic

factors







All in the context of climate change

Societal issues and Societal issues and political decision political decision

makingmaking

Interconnections in Marine Environment & Health

HABs & pathogens

HABs & pathogens


Natural Events

Natural Events







economic factors

Socio-economic

factors







HABs & pathogens

HABs & pathogens


Natural Events

Natural Events







economic factors

Socio-economic

factors







All in the context of climate change

Moore, M.N. Depledge, M.H. et al. 2012, Microbial Ecol. (in press)

Oceans , human health and wellbeing: Specific Questions.

• Can we demonstrate associations between ecosystem health and human health?

• How do adverse natural events (such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding, tsunami, severe storms impact) on public health?

• How does eutrophication from land-based nutrient influx impact on seafood security and safety?

• How do harmful algal blooms (HABs) and other biogenic toxins cause direct-contact toxicity and impair seafood safety and other impacts on human health?

• What are the transmission routes and public health consequences of pathogens (helminths, protozoans, bacterial and viral)?

• Are there negative impacts of aquaculture on the environment and public health?

• Are there risks from contamination of seawater and seafood by micro- and nanoparticles and conventional chemical pollution, including complex mixtures?

• What are the risks from radio-nuclides, including direct risks and food safety and security as a result of the expansion of the nuclear energy industry?

• Are there common pathways for transport and uptake of pathogens and chemical/particle pollutants?

• What are the impacts of food safety and food quality (nutritional components)?

• Can problems with food security (over-exploitation, environmental degradation and biodiversity loss; reduction in adaptive capacity through loss of genetic diversity) be effectively managed to prevent loss of biological resources (fisheries)?

• Does proximity to the seas and coasts have health benefits? - the “Blue Gym” effect.

• Can environmental, social and economic interactions (quality of governance, pressures from coastal zone overpopulation and sustaining critical coastal ecosystems) be predicted?

Oceans , human health and wellbeing: Specific Questions.

• Can we demonstrate associations between ecosystem health and human health?

• How do adverse natural events (such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding, tsunami, severe storms impact) on public health?

• How does eutrophication from land-based nutrient influx impact on seafood security and safety?

• How do harmful algal blooms (HABs) and other biogenic toxins cause direct-contact toxicity and impair seafood safety and other impacts on human health?

• What are the transmission routes and public health consequences of pathogens (helminths, protozoans, bacterial and viral)?

• Are there negative impacts of aquaculture on the environment and public health?

• Are there risks from contamination of seawater and seafood by micro- and nanoparticles and conventional chemical pollution, including complex mixtures?

• What are the risks from radio-nuclides, including direct risks and food safety and security as a result of the expansion of the nuclear energy industry?

• Are there common pathways for transport and uptake of pathogens and chemical/particle pollutants?

• What are the impacts of food safety and food quality (nutritional components)?

• Can problems with food security (over-exploitation, environmental degradation and biodiversity loss; reduction in adaptive capacity through loss of genetic diversity) be effectively managed to prevent loss of biological resources (fisheries)?

• Does proximity to the seas and coasts have health benefits? - the “Blue Gym” effect.

• Can environmental, social and economic interactions (quality of governance, pressures from coastal zone overpopulation and sustaining critical coastal ecosystems) be predicted?

The Future.....• Global population –decreasing after 2050.• Technological advances can reduce pollution.• Improvements in aquaculture and land use can

deliver more food.• Marine conservation strategies can protect

and restore marine biodiversity.• Exploration of the oceans (especially the deep

oceans can provide new resources and new

insights about the planet.• The oceans offer new opportunities to improve

human health and wellbeing.

“ For the sea lies all around us..... In its mysterious past it encompasses all the dim origins of life and receives in the end, after many transmutations, the dead husks of that same life.....

For all at last return to the sea...........”

Rachel Carson, (1952)

If you would like to help, please contact [email protected]

the 2012 burntwood lecture revisiting rachel: the legacy of silent spring fifty years on. the sea...

Documents

world slide

usa slide

human health slide

age slide

overfishing slide

edcs slide

historical perspective

coastal aquaculture