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28 | POLLUTION AND HEALTH

POLLUTION AND HEALTH
A toxic mix

for the blue planet

The Monaco Commission on Human Health and Ocean Pollution has
looked further into this topic, which is expected to shape the next

“Monaco Declaration” for the ocean.

Founded during the previous edition of Monaco
Ocean Week in 2019, this international scientific THE CURRENT SITUATION
commission was able to meet for its second session
on Tuesday, 24 March 2021. Commission members In the second part, Professor Philip Landrigan, envi-
reviewed the report presented a few months earlier ronmental health expert at Boston College, presented
in Monaco, during the symposium dedicated to the conclusions from the report which reviews the current
impact of ocean pollution on human health. They re- situation in terms of the impact of ocean pollution on
ferenced scientific news on the topic, as well as future human health – a report introduced by HSH Prince
2
prospects for action. New experts joined the 12 core Albert II of Monaco and published in the review An-
founding members of the group, and presented their nals of Global Health. The mix of persistent, organic,
research interests. microbiological and nanochemical pollution has a
significant effect on ocean health, and therefore on
human health. Based on 700 scientific papers, the
RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES report’s 40 authors gathered the results of the latest
research on the topic, compiling alarming analyses
During this digital meeting led by Doctor Hervé Raps at an international level. At the end of this summary,
from the Monaco Scientific Centre, there were dis- the scientists emphasised examples of resilience or
cussions on the epigenetic study of marine bacte- decontamination, which were promoted during the
ria’s adaptive mechanisms in view of environmental Monaco Ocean Week conference.
stress, the development of early warning systems
on exceptional marine events (harmful algal blooms,
flooding, etc.) and progress on tracking tools and A FUTURE DECLARATION FOR
indicators, which are crucial for bacteriological pre- THE OCEAN
vention. The “Vibrio Map Viewer” developed by the
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Finally, this meeting was an opportunity to position
emerged as a future tool. Researchers also men- the topic at the centre of the future Monaco Declara-
tioned the need to consider the risk of extreme cli- tion. Professor Landrigan also reiterated that “thanks
mate events and the risk of water contamination in to legislative and binding measures taken during the
construction strategies. Finally, acting as a substrate Montreal Protocol in 1989, substances responsible
of pollutants and micro-organisms, plastic waste is for destroying the ozone layer have fallen by 70%”.
subject to enhanced studies which reveal a new as- Presented with this encouraging example, commis-
pect - nanoplastics. sion members ruled in favour of a call for global action
for the ocean, which will be launched in Monaco du-
ring upcoming international meetings.

2. Landrigan P. et al. “Human Health and Ocean Pollution”, Annals
of Global Health, 2020.