Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Coastal ocean chemistry now substantially shaped by humans
https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2026/03/16/coastal-ocean-chemistry-now-substantially-shaped-humansUC Riverside-led study found no places in the ocean completely untouched by human chemical impacts
Iqbal Pittalwala
March 16, 2026
A global analysis of more than 2,300 seawater samples from more than 20 field studies around the globe indicates that human-made chemicals make up a significant portion of organic matter in coastal oceans.
The international study, led by biochemists Jarmo Kalinski and Daniel Petras at the University of California, Riverside, analyzed seawater samples collected over a decade from coastal regions from the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. Reported in Nature Geoscience, the findings show that industrial chemicals, many of which are rarely monitored, are far more abundant and widespread than previously recognized.
“For decades, scientists have tracked plastic debris floating on the ocean’s surface and measured rising temperatures that signal climate change,” said Petras, an assistant professor of biochemistry. “But another, largely invisible human footprint has been accumulating in the sea: thousands of synthetic chemicals. Even in places we consider relatively pristine, we found clear chemical fingerprints of human activity. The extent of this influence was surprising.”
…
“There was virtually nowhere we sampled that showed no human chemical influence,” said Kalinski, a postdoctoral researcher in Petras’ group.
…
Kalinski, JC.J., Pakkir Mohamed Shah, A.K., Ruiz Brandão da Costa, B. et al. Widespread presence of anthropogenic compounds in marine dissolved organic matter. Nat. Geosci. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-026-01928-zIqbal Pittalwala
March 16, 2026
A global analysis of more than 2,300 seawater samples from more than 20 field studies around the globe indicates that human-made chemicals make up a significant portion of organic matter in coastal oceans.
The international study, led by biochemists Jarmo Kalinski and Daniel Petras at the University of California, Riverside, analyzed seawater samples collected over a decade from coastal regions from the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. Reported in Nature Geoscience, the findings show that industrial chemicals, many of which are rarely monitored, are far more abundant and widespread than previously recognized.
“For decades, scientists have tracked plastic debris floating on the ocean’s surface and measured rising temperatures that signal climate change,” said Petras, an assistant professor of biochemistry. “But another, largely invisible human footprint has been accumulating in the sea: thousands of synthetic chemicals. Even in places we consider relatively pristine, we found clear chemical fingerprints of human activity. The extent of this influence was surprising.”
…
“There was virtually nowhere we sampled that showed no human chemical influence,” said Kalinski, a postdoctoral researcher in Petras’ group.
…