Plastic pellets are polluting Charleston’s harbor and tidal marsh

PIRG partnered with the Charleston Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation and the Charleston Waterkeeper to hold a plastic pellet and tidal marsh clean-up on Saturday and again found thousands of plastic pellets, sometimes called “nurdles,” within the tidal marsh adjacent to the historic old town. 

This is the third plastic pellet clean-up event PIRG has helped to host in Charleston. In January, 5,707 pre-industrial plastic pellets were found. Last May for World Migratory Bird we found 1,133 plastic pellets. To date, over 15,000 plastic pellets have been found in Waterfront Park.

It is estimated that 10 trillion plastic pellets litter our oceans in a year. Once in the water, plastic pellets can absorb toxic chemicals such as DDT, PCBs, and mercury. These types of pollutants bioaccumulate, meaning they become more concentrated and more toxic as they move up the food chain. 

Birds, fish, turtles and other marine animals sometimes mistake plastic pellets for food, such as fish eggs or tadpoles. A recent study found that 54% of the fulmar birds in the study had plastic pellets in their stomachs. Another study found that when there was an acute spill of plastic pellets in the Gulf of Mexico the amount of pellets found in the stomachs of turtles in the area also increased. 

Would you like to get involved with fighting plastic pellet pollution? Go on a nurdle hunt and record the data. 

If you are interested in hosting a plastic pellet hunt near you, let’s talk: [email protected].