🔗 Share this article

Southern Water is currently investigating after millions of contaminated plastic beads appeared on the shoreline at Camber, raising worries of a potential "environmental catastrophe".

These biobeads could cause severe harm on ocean creatures, as stated by a local MP, with apprehensions that protected marine species, including seabirds, small cetaceans, and marine mammals, might ingest them and die.

A local official suspects the pellets may have been spilled from a local filtration facility and has sent a letter to the top official, requesting an explanation.

Camber Sands, located in the southeastern region, is a highly popular shoreline, featuring unique sandy ecosystems and expansive areas of golden sand.

Local helpers have been racing against time to clear the beads, collecting dozens of bags with the synthetic debris, but the scale of the pollution spill is immense, and it is unlikely they will be able to clear every piece.

A representative from a environmental organization commented recently, "This represents the most severe contamination incident I have ever witnessed. It is polluted polymer. Marine animals will consume small plastic items once they are in the ocean; they will draw in microorganisms, they will appear edible, in essence."

"Once they’ve eaten it, that’s it: they can’t get it out. They will float on the surface. It will form a layer which draws in plunging seabirds."

He added that the clean-up efforts have been exhausting. "Yesterday, I was on site cleaning it up. We are trying to accurately reconstruct the sequence of events and the story for this devastating incident. It’s terrible."

"They are so small that from a a distance, the shoreline looks normal. But as soon as you approach closely, you see there are millions dark beads, nestled under seaweed. It’s an unachievable mission – volunteers have been working tirelessly, and they will keep at it, but we cannot remove every pellet. It is the most severe I have ever seen of a polluted beach."

The local MP, who joined the clean-up efforts, remarked, "The huge number of polymer pellets that have washed up here threatens an ecological disaster. These plastic items are deadly to marine life and wildlife, and we are already seeing increased mortality among marine species on the beach."

"Community members are working tirelessly to remove as many pellets as possible, but it’s a urgent effort. The water company must quickly determine if their local wastewater plants could be the origin of these pellets, and I’ve requested to commit every possible asset to aiding the removal efforts in the meantime."

The beads are additionally hazardous to canines as they contain a high number of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are known to have cancer-causing traits, and they often contain harmful substances such as heavy metals, antimony, and bromine.

A spokesperson for the water company said, "We are working closely with the Environment Agency and local council to investigate the cause of plastic beads which have been deposited on Camber Beach. The inquiry is ongoing."

"Local officials is overseeing removal of the beach, using specialists with a specialized machinery to extract the beads. We are also supporting with the removal process."

"We’ve conducted water-quality sampling on the coast, which has shown no impact to environmental water quality. These results has been provided with the local authorities and the regulatory body."

Regulatory officials has been contacted for comment.