A groundbreaking scientific report
released today by the Deep Sea Mining
Campaign exposes a critical, unaddressed threat to
global ocean health: the mobilisation of naturally occurring
radioactive materials by proposed deep sea mining (DSM)
operations.
Published as the International Seabed
Authority meets to debate regulations for DSM, the report
reveals that mining the sea floor would expose marine
ecosystems, commercial fisheries, and human seafood
consumers to the risks of unregulated
radioactivity.
The scientific consensus already
indicates that DSM impacts will be severe, long-term, and
effectively irreversible. However, this new report shines a
light on an overlooked hazard: radiation
eco-toxicity.
Radioactive alpha particle emitters
concentrate in polymetallic nodules and seafloor massive
sulphides, both of which are targeted by companies for
mining. While marine ecosystems are adapted to natural
background levels of radioactivity, the report warns that
deep sea mining will mobilise radioactive materials and
expose marine life and food chains to elevated levels,
possibly for significant distances from seabed mining
sites.
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“It’s well known that alpha particles are
readily blocked by barriers like skin or paper. However,
they become extremely dangerous when inhaled or ingested.
Investigations have begun into the risks to workers handling
nodules. However, our report exposes a massive blind spot:
there is zero research on how radiation mobilised by DSM
will impact marine ecosystems. Marine life cannot escape
polluted water; they will breathe it in and swallow it, and
eat prey contaminated by mining operations,” said
Dr. Helen Rosenbaum of the Deep Sea Mining
Campaign.
DSM will mobilise both radioactive isotopes
and heavy metals. The combined ecotoxicological impacts over
decades-long mining operations remain a significant
knowledge gap.
Marine scientist Dr. Andrew D.
Thaler added. “This report highlights just
how much work is left to do to understand the impacts of
this industry on marine ecosystems. The release of both
heavy metals and radioactive isotopes presents a potential
double threat to the ocean. Alpha emitters and heavy metals
that build up within the tissue of marine organisms can
multiply up the food chain. This could affect the health of
top predators, including humans who eat seafood. We are
diving blind into an unproven industry without understanding
the potential consequences of combined exposure to both
heavy metals and radioactive isotopes mobilized from deep
sea mining.”
Alanna Matamaru Smith of the
Te Ipukarea Society in the Cook Islands states,
“Being a Cook Islander whose current government supports
deep-sea mining, I’ve observed that concerns about
radioactive elements present in polymetallic nodules are
often downplayed. It’s frequently suggested that
activities such as air travel expose people to greater
levels of radiation than those associated with nodules. Such
comparisons divert attention away from important scientific
questions about the impact of radioactive isotopes released
by deep sea mining within the marine
environment.“
Ms Matamaru Smith continues, “This
report raises critical questions about the potential for
ecotoxicity and biomagnification within marine food webs
that are a staple food source for Pacific Island
communities. It highlights exactly the type of issues that
Pacific peoples and their leaders need hard data on, in
order to make informed decisions about the future of our
ocean resources.”
Dr. Helen Rosenbaum concludes
“Deep Sea Mining is on the verge of exposing our ocean
commons to elevated, unregulated radioactivity. We call on
the global scientific community and on regulatory
authorities to ensure these critical knowledge gaps are
addressed before commercial mining is permitted to
begin.”
Further Information
The report
outlines a severe lack of research regarding uptake, dose,
and ecological effects of DSM-induced radioactivity. It
challenges researchers to undertake a focused investigative
effort to answer the following critical questions before any
commercial mining proceeds:
Radionuclide
Behavior: What specific chemical forms and
concentrations are released, and how do they bind to nodules
and SMS deposits?
Spatial Dispersion: How will mining
the seabed and wastewater discharge alter the distribution
and the concentrations of radioactive isotopes that marine
life will be exposed to?
Food Web
Bioaccumulation: What are the uptake
pathways, bio-availabilities, and food web transfer rates of
these radionuclides?
Combined
Ecotoxicity: How will the combined exposure
to radioactive isotopes and heavy metals cause ecological
harm?
Human and Marine Health: What
short- and long-term radiation doses will marine organisms
experience, and how will this affect marine ecosystems and
human seafood consumers?
About the Deep Sea Mining
Campaign
https://dsm-campaign.org
For the past 15
years, the Deep Sea Mining Campaign has actively raised
awareness and tracked the environmental, social, and
economic risks associated with extracting minerals from the
ocean floor, advocating for the protection of marine
ecosystems and the livelihoods and cultures of coastal and
island
communities.
