Date: June 22, 2022

To: ExxonMobil

From: Rachel Miranda

Subject: ExxonMobil’s Environmental Impact

Distribution List: Oil Companies

This report reviews the causes of plastic pollution on the oceans, the effects that this pollution has on
the oceans and on human beings, and how the pollution can be prevented or reduced.

Causes of plastic pollution

Ocean pollution can have a greatly harmful effect on both marine life and human health. Many
pollutants are currently affecting our oceans, and have a dramatic impact on ocean organisms, which
can lead to harmful effects on humans through the consumption of water or affected marine life.

Plastic production has increased greatly in past years, transforming into a $600 billion global industry.
This results in greater pollution due to plastics, with approximately eight million metric tons of plastic
particles entering the ocean annually. It was estimated that around 5.25 trillion plastic particles are
currently circulating in the surface waters of the ocean. While many of the plastics in the ocean end up
there as trash, they can also pollute the ocean through litter in waterways, wastewater outflows,
industrial discharge, and transport by wind or tides. Plastics are easily fragmented due to environmental
forces such as sunlight exposure, acidic waters, and degradation due to wave movement. This
fragmentation of plastic materials results in the creation of microplastics or nano plastics.
 Effects of Plastic Pollution

Plastics are widely produced around the world, but can take hundreds of years to fully decompose.
Many plastics erode into small debris called microplastics, which can have a toxic effect on marine life.
Microplastics are any plastic debris that is 5 millimeters or smaller. Due to its size, microplastics are
easily eaten by marine life. When microplastics are consumed by marine life, the plastics can accumulate
in the digestive tract and can reduce their feeding capacity, resulting in a decline in growth for the
marine life. If the microplastics are small enough, they can translocate from the digestive tract into the
circulatory system or surrounding tissue. Microplastics can also significantly inhibit the reproductive
capacity of marine life, and can cause oxidative damage, abnormal behavior, and genetic damage.

People might also consume microplastics through drinking water, consuming seafood, and salt.
Consumption of microplastics can result in allergic reactions, cell damage and cell death in humans.
Further research should be done on the effects of microplastics on human health, as there are not many
existing studies examining this issue. Small marine organisms ingest toxins and are eaten by larger
marine life, many of which are seafood that we eat. This can lead to long-term health conditions, cancer
and birth defects when the toxins in contaminated marine life are consumed by humans and get
deposited in human tissue.

Due to the large plastic production industry, and the great amount of plastics that end up in the ocean,
plastics have a harmful effect on marine life such as reduced growth, enlarged livers, impairment in their
reproduction, and can effect their heart and respiration rates. Microplastics can also inhibit the
reproductive capacity of marine life, and can cause oxidative damage, abnormal behavior, and genetic
damage. When affected marine life or drinking water is consumed by humans, plastics can also have a
harmful effect on humans such as allergic reactions, cell death, long-term health conditions, cancer and
birth defects.

ExxonMobil’s Effect on Plastic Pollution

Contributing to almost 6 million metric tons of plastic waste, ExxonMobil is responsible for over half of
the world’s single-use plastic waste. This is on top of the billions of tons of carbon dioxide emitted by
their oil and gas products. ExxonMobil has a history of using disinformation to support continued
production and prioritizing profit over the environment by disregarding the threats they were creating.
When ExxonMobil scientists began to discuss climate change as a result of burning fossil fuels and
beginning research into the environmental effects of CO2 emissions, they realized the deadly threat CO2
emissions has on the climate and warned the leaders of the company of their findings. The response by
Exxon executives was a campaign of disinformation, denying the conclusive finding of a link between
human activity and climate change.
 Sources

Smith, Madeleine, et al. “Microplastics in Seafood and the Implications for Human Health.” Current
Environmental Health Reports, Springer International Publishing, Sept. 2018,
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6132564/.

Li, You, et al. “IOPscience.” IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, IOP Publishing, 1
Jan. 2021, https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/631/1/012006.