Beach Litter and Human Injuries

There is a lot of talk about beach trash-marine debris and how it effects animals. But the one issue that is rarely brought up is beach trash- marine debris and human getting hurt by it.

Until now… A new study in New Zealand tracked the number of people that were hurt by beach trash and showed that it was increasing by 5% a year. The number of beach injury claims  was 161,261 with nearly 8000 new injuries claimed each year.

The top injuries were

1. Losing balance, tripping
2. Twisting movements
3. Knocked over by an object
4. Punctures and cuts and infections
5. Broken bones, fractures or dislocation
6. Blindness and damage to the eyes

The University of Waikato’s research between 2007 and 2016 examined the danger of beach litter at New Zealand’s beaches to people’s health.  50% of the injury claims were  people aged between 20 to 65 years, with 42% from children under 19 years old.

In another study of Tasmanian Beach Moderate proportions (21.6%) of beach users received injuries from beach litter.

1992: Australia Study: 211 injuries were recorded; 37% were lacerations/cuts, 18% were rescues. Of the listed causes of injuries, 20% were from surfboards and 19% were from beach litter. (Source)

1993: UK, Phillip reports that, in the period 1988-91, 4% of the needle stick injuries reported to the Public Health Laboratory Service in the South West Region of England were sustained on the beach.

What is interesting, there is little or no recent (that I could find) study on human injuries. Most studies were done back in the 1990’s. Yet Marine Litter and Beach Trash is growing.

Imagine the following and what could happen… swimming and ingesting styrofoam, a cigarette butt, kerosene, feces.

Walking a stepping on a piece of broken glass, a metal shard, a hot coal, a buried shovel?

Tripping over a toy, a pallet?

Swimming and getting hit by a drifting beach chair or even an icebox.

Types of Litter

1. Plastics: Fragments, sheets, bags, containers, toys, bottle caps
2. Polystyrene: Plates, coolers, cups, packaging, buoys
3. Rubber: Gloves, boots, tires, rubber bands
4. Wood: Construction items, pallets, firewood, furniture
5. Construction Waste: Wood, tools, nails, drywall
6. Metals: drink cans, oil drums, aerosol containers, toys, food cans, eating utensils, knives
7. Sanitary or sewage related: Condoms, tampons, feces, diapers, toothbrushes, toothpicks
8. Paper and cardboard: Newspapers, food packing, shipping
9. Textiles: Clothing, furnishings, shoes, socks, toys
10. Glass: Bottles, light bulbs, bongs
11. Pottery/Ceramic:
12. Munitions: Flares, ammo. New Jersey (2018) South Carolina
13. Beach Items: Boogie boards, surfboards, beach chairs, umbrellas, canopies, BBQ’s, skimboards, boats, kites, volleyballs, soccer balls, tennis balls, pong balls.
14. Ghost Nets
15. Medical Waste: New Jersey (1980’s, 2018), New York (2018), Florida (2018) Hong Kong (2018)
16. Fishing Gear: Hooks, fishing poles and nets
17. Smoking: Cigarettes, packaging, vaping and marijuana
18. Utensils: Knives, skewers both wood and metal, kerosene, forks, spoons

Scuba Divers have been entangles in monofilaments, boats have hit floating objects, surfers get sick from feces and toxic water.. the list goes on and on.

Where does it come from?

1. Flood Overruns
2. Runoff from lawns and farming.
3. Fires- Burning coals and broken glass
4. Poor Sewage treatment and disposal
5. Industrial waste including chemical dumping.
6. Illegal Dumping
7. Aquaculture
8. Shipping Containers
9. Cruise Ships
10. Fishing Industry
11. Weather
12. People who are inconsiderate

Some Examples 

• Richmond toddler’s feet burned by beach BBQ coals (2018)

• The female casualty was enjoying a barbecue with her friends and family in Newquay when she stepped on the wooden skewer, causing her to suffer the serious injury.
• A two-year-old boy suffered serious burns to his legs after stepping on a BBQ that had been buried in the sand at Caswell

All of that said, it is not just animals that are effected by marine litter. Think about it next time you go anywhere as litter effects everyone, everywhere.

Resource

New Zealand Herald 

Research Gate: Human Health Impacts From Litter on Beach A Case study of clean Tasmanian Beaches 

Surfrider  Marine Litter Report