Medical Wastes

Abstract

When marine debris gets really ugly and hazardous, we’ve gotten to medical wastes. Are sick people medicating themselves on the beach? Is the beach being used by drug addicts? Is the municipal waste treatment system down for repair? Has some company dumped medical or research lab waste into the sea? Unfortunately, any and all these scenarios can be true, sometimes simultaneously. Syringes are perhaps the most common item in this category. If you see one piece of medical waste, the “law of marine debris aggregation” means you’re likely to find more close by. This is the debris that prompts expensive beach closures, and this chapter urges you to keep your eyes open (any maybe your shoes on).