From bacteria to plastics: our health depends on that of the oceans

From antibiotic resistance genes found everywhere under the sea surface, even at the North Pole, to the Covid virus (the Sars-Cov-2) intercepted in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. From microplastics concentrated even in the seas closest to us, such as the Mediterranean, to paints from the 1950s that the 'blue planet' cannot get rid of. And then Pfas pollutants, present even beyond the thresholds set for drinking water, and metals such as cadmium, lead, uranium and vanadium found in traces and 'ultra-traces' thanks to the most sophisticated methods.
It is the oceans, which cover as much as 70% of our planet, that with their 'memory' present us with the bill for the damage that we almost always cause ourselves and which, like a boomerang, return to affect our health. But certainly always from the oceans, in their role of 'blue pharmacy', can come solutions as well as responses to be designed against high-impact phenomena. Starting with climate change, which displaces enormous masses of population, striking at the heart of any claim to equity in access to resources and the right to a dignified existence.

Finally clarifying the link that exists between ocean water quality and health in a 'Planetary Health' perspective is the all-Italian 'Sea Care' project, devised by Andrea Piccioli, Director General of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (Iss), who is leading it together with the Italian Navy and a network of laboratories of excellence, thanks to a national and international partnership. An initiative that walks, or rather sails, aboard the grey ships of our Navy and 'stars' such as the Amerigo Vespucci. And which is also innovative in terms of its logistics, characterised by minimal economic impact and maximum scientific yield: "In the first three years of activity between 2022 and 2025," explains Managing Director Piccioli, "about sixty young researchers from the Iss embarked on shifts in which they shared the shipboard line of the ships that hosted them, following pre-established routes. Thanks to a small mobile laboratory, the more than 4,000 samples already collected in more than 140 sites distributed in all the main basins from the Mediterranean to the Arctic to the Indian Ocean were analysed according to a rigorous scientific method, which allows the chemical and biological aspects of the waters to be assessed". This activity, which has never been carried out before, provides a very precise picture of the oceans and the link with our health, so much so that the project has been hinged on the UN 2030 Water Agenda. "A necessary step in the current era of the Anthropocene," Piccioli continues, "where the human impact on the environment is stronger than ever and where it would be appropriate to speak of a single ocean to be studied, due to the interconnection between systems favoured by the currents that carry everything everywhere.

The Sea Care project - extended until 2028 with the mission for this three-year period to study the depths of the sea - was among the protagonists of the first "Ocean and Human Health International High Level Forum", organised yesterday by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità in Rome with the endorsement of Unesco, which included it among the official activities of Oceans Day. The objective is almost unprecedented: to discuss the effects of the condition of the oceans on human health and - ultimately - to take care of the seas in order to carry out prevention by bringing into play synergies at a national and international level. This was emphasised by Health Minister Orazio Schillaci: 'If we want to protect the health of present and, above all, future generations, if we want to build truly resilient health systems, we must strengthen our ability to read and govern the interconnections between health, the environment and sustainable development,' he remarked.

Ten priority actions emerged from the day that, in a planet Earth increasingly divided by wars and economic competition, relaunch the value of collaboration between researchers of excellence, from China to the United States to our own CNR and Istituto Superiore di Sanità. Crucial, among them all, is the 'from source to sea' approach that imposes an integrated vision of the entire water cycle, starting from the consideration that any form of pollution produced inland travels across environmental compartments and borders and ends up impacting on our health through food, water and air. As a corollary, the scientists' call is to include the protection of human health and well-being in the High Seas Treaty, which entered into force on 17 January with the challenge of developing prevention strategies that simultaneously protect marine ecosystems and global communities.