When the X-Press Pearl cargo ship caught fire and sank in May 2021 off the coast of Sri Lanka, it spilled a devastating amount of chemicals and plastic debris into the sea. Reportedly the largest plastic spill in history, the plastics comprised 1,680 tonnes of nurdles. Nurdles. Sounds like a made-up word, doesn’t it? Nurdles are small plastic pellets the size of a lentil. They are central to the manufacturing of plastic products globally¹.

Don’t be fooled by these somewhat visually appealing bits of translucent plastic. Nurdles are deadly! (Source: Eranga Jayawardena/AP)

Nurdles have become a pollution nightmare. But they are so small! How could these be as bad as the plastic bags and other bigger pieces of trash or oil spills killing marine life?

The fact is that given how small and relatively buoyant they are, the sheer quantity of nurdles spilt per incident quickly become transboundary. In the X-Press Pearl incident, most of the nurdles were burnt in the fire and doused in chemicals further worsening the threat that the spill posed to the marine life and local community on the west coast of Sri Lanka.

Thousands of marine species washed up dead on the Sri Lankan beaches as a result of the incident, including fish, turtles, dolphins and even whales. The nurdles are mistaken for food, and being indigestible and poisonous, end up resulting in the demise of these wildlife.

Nurdles were found in the bodies of dead fish, dolphins and other wildlife that washed up after the event (Source: Saman Abesiriwardana/Pacific Press/Rex/Shutterstock)

The X-Press Pearl nurdle spill was particularly detrimental to Sri Lankan locals dependent on fishing. Being reliant on marine life for sustenance and for their livelihoods, fishermen were out of work for months after the spill and have since experienced sorely lacking catches.

This unprecedented incident continues to affect the ecosystem and Sri Lankan community to date. Though this incident is especially catastrophic given its immense reach and impact, nurdle spills are not uncommon. Most worryingly, nurdles have yet to be officially classified by the International Maritime Organization as hazardous material. Nurdle spills are said to be a result of inadequate packaging for shipment. Marine plastic specialist, Tanya Cox, from the conservation charity Flora & Fauna International, says that classification of nurdles as hazardous (like flammable liquids for example) would make sure that stringent precautions for their storage are enforced.

Since nurdles will likely continue being critical to the global plastic trade, it is imperative that the necessary protocols be created and enforced as soon as possible, to prevent such disastrous events from occurring again.

 

¹ Watch this video to learn how plastics are created and how nurdles are used:

 

References:

https://www.parley.tv/updates/2019/7/22/science-vs-plastic-nurdles

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/29/nurdles-plastic-pellets-environmental-ocean-spills-toxic-waste-not-classified-hazardous

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/25/nurdles-are-everywhere-how-plastic-pellets-ravaged-a-sri-lankan-paradise