At the end of February, the organization OceansAsia published images showing the remains of disposable masks found on the beaches of Soko, an archipelago located near Hong Kong. The photographs and video have already been around the world and show another of the indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: contamination by single-use plastics.
Due to the high transmission capacity of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the use of protective material has grown exponentially, both at a health and individual level, and will continue to do so in the coming months and as de-escalation measures begin and people resume your activities. Most of the materials with which disposable gloves and masks are made are not recyclable , and this is generating a new collapse: that of the capacity to manage this type of waste. As a result, many of them will end up polluting rivers and seas.
The OceansAsia team regularly visits the beaches of Soko to analyze the plastics and microplastics that reach this remote place and trace their provenance. Until now, the presence of surgical masks was anecdotal, but since the outbreak of the pandemic, this type of waste has become increasingly common. ” When you have a population of seven million people who suddenly start using one or two masks a day, the amount of garbage generated is considerable, ” reflect those responsible for the organization. One of their objectives is to trace the origin of the waste they find, based on calculations that include the weight and shape of the objects as well as the currents and displacements, to locate the sources of the same.
Protect our health and also that of ecosystems
The Spanish Association of Marine Garbage has also warned of the proliferation of gloves and masks in the street and in the field. The use of these materials that cannot be reused or recycled is inevitable to protect ourselves from contagion, but we must do so responsibly and avoid throwing them on public roads . “It is key that the citizen understands that a waste abandoned in a city, in the end can end up reaching nature, and sometimes, our seas and oceans, either transported by the wind or rivers”, explains the president of the Association, Pilar Zorzo. “It depends on our performance that they do not become a health risk or a problem for the environment. We must be responsible and aware when disposing of them, to avoid that, once the sanitary emergency is resolved, an environmental problem arises ”.
It is not only to protect the health of the oceans: ours too. Various studies have shown the ability of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to remain active on different surfaces for up to several days, so its transmission can also be increased if gloves and masks are not placed in the appropriate container (the fraction rest, which is gray or green depending on the municipality).
Plastic pollution is a serious environmental problem, a crisis that we cannot ignore even in these times in which, logically, concern about COVID-19 is the protagonist. “ It is true that for hygiene and health reasons it is not feasible to prohibit the use of single-use plastics while the health emergency lasts . But it is very important to prevent a greater environmental problem from occurring once the crisis is resolved. We must not forget that the problem of plastic pollution will still be present ”, explains Ethel Eljarrat, researcher at the Department of Environmental Chemistry at the Institute for Environmental Diagnosis and Water Studies (IDAEA – CSIC), in an article on this topic published in The Conversation . “ The development of alternative materials to more biodegradable and recyclable plastics is urgent , as well as progress in the design of new chemical additives that are less polluting. If today we had these solutions, the current increase in the use of plastic material would not be affecting the environment so negatively ”.
