For those of you who wondered where those billions of disposable face masks went during the COVID-19 pandemic, a recent study has made a sobering discovery.
The use of single-use face masks increased by nearly 9,000 percent during the pandemic from March 2020 until October 2020, the report found.
Additionally, the report noted, 129 billion disposable face masks were used globally per month during the pandemic.
The study, written by Anna Bogush and Ivan Kourtchev, found that billions of masks were made from non-recyclable materials, and that is why microplastics leached into the ground and water. These improperly discarded items were found to block drains and sewage systems, "potentially leading to pollution of soils and water systems like rivers, lakes, streams, and oceans."
The findings also led to information that revealed the discarded masks "can also harm wildlife ... and leach toxic contaminants, including emerging pollutants, into the environment."
And if that was not enough, Bogush and Kourtchev wrote that infections clinging to the masks upon disposal could potentially release and spread pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi.
It did not take long, during the pandemic, to see evidence of the improperly disposed of masks, littering "street lanes, sidewalks, footpaths, parking areas, street gutters, waterways, parks, beaches, rural areas," the writers noted in their study.
Pandemic Waste Problem
According to information compiled by researchers Nsikak Benson, David Bassey, and Thavamani Palanisami, who contributed to the study via their own report, "COVID Pollution: Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Plastic Waste Footprint," they estimate that approximately 4.3 tons of unrecyclable contaminated plastic waste from disposable face masks would be generated within one year.Their study also found that single-use plastics (SUPs), including gloves, protective medical suits, masks, hand sanitizer bottles, takeout plastics, food and polyethylene goods packages, and medical test kits, since the coronavirus pandemic began, have contributed to microplastic and related pollution.
"The management of wastes arising from SUPs is a troubling upshot of the COVID-19 pandemic which has wrecked the global healthcare systems and disrupted the economies of nation," wrote the authors.
The researchers emphasized, in their report, the importance of the findings for developing science-based policy recommendations on the health and environmental impacts of microplastics and associated chemical additives from disposable face masks, pointing out a significant gap in understanding plastic regulation and management.
Bisphenol B leaches from the masks, and this substance is known to cause endocrine disruption while behaving like estrogen when absorbed by the bodies of humans and animals.
Other toxic chemicals, including polyvinylchloride, ethylene-propylene, and fibers containing polypropylene, also contribute to health problems and environmental damage, the report says.
The authors concluded by emphasizing the need for an integrated policy carved out between researchers, PPE producers, waste managers, government, policymakers, and society.