- May 6, 2024
- Posted by: legaleseblogger
- Category: Related News
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# Researching the Legality of Introducing Plastic-Eating Bacteria in the North Sea
Hello everyone,
I am currently in the midst of my final year project for school, which is proving to be a challenging and extensive endeavor. My group and I have chosen a topic that involves researching the viability of introducing plastic-eating bacteria into the North Sea. This controversial topic has led me to question the legal ramifications of such an action.
In my quest for answers, I have scoured the internet to determine if it is permissible to intentionally release infectious agents into the sea with the aim of proliferating throughout the entire North Sea ecosystem. My initial assumption is that such an act is illegal and would require approval from the European Union. However, I have yet to delve deep into the legal specifics of the matter.
Thus far, my research has led me to Chapter 3, Regulation 11, which addresses the dumping of sewage into the ocean. While this regulation mostly pertains to sewage disposal, it includes provisions that may encompass the release of infectious agents. I have also come across a US document that outlines the severe consequences, such as hefty fines, for dumping medical waste containing infectious agents.
Despite my efforts, I have not been able to find concrete laws or regulations that explicitly prohibit or allow the introduction of plastic-eating bacteria into marine environments. I am reaching out to this community in the hopes of receiving guidance on where to find pertinent information or legal guidance on this subject.
Thank you in advance for any assistance or insights you can provide.
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****** just grabbed a
I dont know the exact answer to your question but it might be an idea to have a look at the IMO’s Ballast Water Management Convention, as it concerns the same topic (or prevention of-)
Not a lawyer by any means, but I’m quite sure that releasing purposeful releasing a biological agent in international waters would be in direct breech of CBRN of several anti-terrorism and biological warfare restrictions.
Wow people really need to learn how to read. OP has already stated they’re not actually going to do it its a theoretical legal question.
This might be considered ‘het lozen van stoffen’ and requires a permit based on article 6.3 of the Waterwet. Or in 2024 based on het Besluit activiteiten leefomgeving.
Not a lawyer, but am a biologist. Genetically modified bacteria are a minimum of Biosafety level 2, to prevent accidental release. Plastic consumption would be a completely novel trait, so would probably even be Biosafety level 3.
The Dutch rulings on and around genetically modified organisms can be found here https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0035072/2023-10-01. While I have not checked there is a ruling directly saying don’t dump genetically modified organisms in the enviroment and what the punishment is, it does include the minimum measurements you need to take to work and transport various genetically modified organism without them escaping into the enviroment.
(Civil) Lawyer here. At least in the Dutch Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek) a person cannot be held accountable if putting substances in water causes an issue, according to Dutch law. Only a venture/company can, via art. 6:175 BW.
This doesn’t mean you can not be held accountable at all, cause there’s always art. 6:162 BW which is used for general wrongdoings.
Art. 6:175 BW is about company liability for substances. This includes substances in water, and bacteria are also seen as “substances”. If you want to deploy those bacteria large-scale, you will probably do it via a company and then this of course does apply.([https://repository.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/handle/2066/178365/178365.pdf](https://repository.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/handle/2066/178365/178365.pdf) has some good info on this, but remember, this only applies to companies.)
This sounds like the premise of a very bad horror movie.
I know theyre growing some sort of seaweed again around the waddeneilanden. They want to keep it/bring it back to the original state.
Can imagine climate change is going to play a role on the way too. Theres different fish species and other animals species popping up in the last years.
Though, they are growing seaweed fields with the sort seaweed that used to grow there. Dont think they will cancel that plan to throw in some foreign bacteria.
Edit: its not seaweed, but if you search for zeegrasherstel waddengebied you could find info about it.
Why not just ask Rijkswaterstaat? I mean changing ecological systems on purpose is a pretty niche thing, I doubt they have many rules about it.
I vaguely remember there being a similar project in Asia about introducing Mosquitos which would cause infertility among existing populations as a way of pest control. It might be interesting to look that up as an example of how such projects could go.
The release of genetically modified organisms from a lab is not allowed unless products are speficically approved by the governing bodies of the territory involved. Since (next to) no natural plastic eating organisms have been found to this day, it would likely have to be a genetically modified organism. For more info, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biocontainment_of_genetically_modified_organisms may be helpful.
As for non-GMOs, if you find a plastic eating bacteria somewhere in nature and it needs no editing to perform your function, no one could stop you from relocating some of these bacteria from say, your backyard to the ocean. Good luck even proving that that is what you’re doing.
Please don’t
there are numerous examples from history of unintended consequences of introducing an alien animal / organism to a new environment
at best it’s usually bad for the local ecosystem at worst its an environmental disaster
Examples include
Zebra mussels in North America
Cane toads in Australia
Brown tree snake in Guam
European rabbits in Australia
Kudzu in the United States
Grey Squirrels and Japanese Knotweed into the UK
Smallpox into the Americas
It will without a doubt be seen as unethical, and possibly get you in academic trouble.
You can get jailtime for this without the right permit. You need to contact a whole bunch of government agencies before you can do this
Maybe you need to consult a map, then you can see that water flows around the globe.
All solution to a endresult! not a solution from the core!
The world will get populated more and more. even if we really watch our plastic, it will increase never the less over time!
we need to change the way we package stuff! and get rid of plastic packaging.
IT is in many reports already come foreward that plastic is very unhealthy even in plastic bottles you get plastic in your body.why did we swap from glass to plastic? NOT FOR US! but for companies that now had way less kilo’s of transportation to pay for!
If we don;t put a stop to useless plastic packaging like SINGLE packaging, or packaging in packaging. like wafels that er in a bag of 10 but also single packaged in it! makes no sense at all, other then LUXERY and lazyness.
we need to change this cause all the END solutions won;t work in time we need to get the problem by it’s roots! so we don;t have to live with the problem but really get rid of it.
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Wauw, so basically youre question is if it is legal or illegal to adapt a biome where an enormous part of our foodchain comes from? Good question and i do not know, but if I were you, i wouldnt do it. Seems like a very very bad idea with consequences to big to be able to rectify. So maybe do your research in an closed inviroment
According to the wet dieren it is not allowed to introduce any organism in the Netherlands. Artikel 3,42 if i remember correctly (probably not). The water is part of the Netherlands.
So to answer your question. Yes it is illegal to dump bacteria here.
I like the question. I can maybe quide you in the right direction.
There are 2 questions I have immediately. Is the bacteria you want to release a bred using classic modification or a genetically modified organism.
If it is a genetically modified and you want to release it in the northsea in the netherlands, as long as you are not in international waters the following regulations apply.
The european legislation on GMO is : Directive 2001/18/EC [https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02001L0018-20210327](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02001L0018-20210327)
This is a directive and has been translated in national legislation, If you speak dutch you can probably find it, if you dont speak dutch it is of no use to you.
A nice overview of the legislative framework can be found in this link [https://www.biosafety.be/content/eu-regulatory-framework-deliberat-e-release-gmos](https://www.biosafety.be/content/eu-regulatory-framework-deliberat-e-release-gmos)
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If the bacteria is bred using classic methods, you have to look into the nagoya protocol to see if you can use the genetic material for your purpose.
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Good luck in the search.
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edit: to jump to the conclusion, it can be legal, but there are a lot of steps you need to take before you can start introducing your organism to the north sea.
it’s immoral, foolish, reckless and irresponsible to say the least, but
in international waters there is no sovereign agency to tell you what you may or may not do, or it wouldn’t be called international waters..
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You cannot know how nature will react, it could be the vanishing of an entire ecosystem. Best to leave those bacteria in the pacific and after some years investigate the damage the colony has caused. Less population, less risk of irreversible damage.
But what’s wrong with scooping up the visible plastic soup first, I’d focus on the low hanging fruit, those will keep you occupied for decades, and leave bacteria in the lab. It’s the macro-plastics that kill species higher up in the food chain.
I definitely hope so. I’m not going to give legal advice, but more about regional/national research ethics committee recommendations, just to consider:
You’re doing ecological research that can have unintended consequences. The first step should be to do individual interactions between your bacteria and native species.
Why not take samples from different water bodies and see how several doses of bacteria affect the samples? Like with bacterial count, diversity, microscopic animals, DNA screening to test diversity before and at certain time points?
I feel like you’re skipping too many steps, which means you would not get ethical approval in a research ethics committee. There are too many unknowns to just toss bacteria into the ecosystem. It needs more data before that.