Ocean Dumping — History, Control and Biological Impact

Abstract

The history, legislation and enforcement of measures to limit ocean dumping in many countries expresses the increasing global concern for guarding environmental quality. A wide range of persistent and non-persistent pollutants is regularly proposed for dumping which presents testing challenges to the managers who in turn must devise effective and practical solutions. Research on dumping involves not only laboratory toxicity testing but more realistic large-scale and field appraisals that assess behavioural and sub-lethal effects. Ocean dumping is an emotive subject which demands responsible case presentations on the part of the control authorities, dumping agencies, environmentalists and the media in order to communicate a true and understandable picture to the general public.