By: Molly Brannick and Makenna Christensen

In light of the current global pandemic, there has been a worldwide decrease in air pollution along with some recovery of the ozone layer. However, with the positives also come some pitfalls. While we may have temporarily reduced emissions over the past few months, excessive plastic pollution has taken its place as a high-ranking detriment to our planet. According to the United Nations, “If historical data is a reliable indicator, it can be expected that around 75 percent of the used masks, as well as other pandemic-related waste, will end up in landfills, or floating in the seas.”

Over the past four years, but mostly due to COVID-19, the annual market demand for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has spiked by 18 billion dollars. At the peak of the pandemic, China (having the largest population in the world) produced 240 tons of medical waste daily. From medically designated PPE to the everyday person’s single-use masks and gloves, our streets and waterways are being flooded with improperly disposed-of equipment. For example, Hong Kong is a city of 7.4 million people, who for the most part have all worn single-use medical masks daily since the virus was discovered. Gary Stokes, founder of the environmental group Oceans Asia commented, “We only have had masks for the last six to eight weeks, in a massive volume ... we are now seeing the effect on the environment.”

The pollution is not only being seen in Asia. The French non-profit, Opération Mer Propre, which regularly picks up litter along its coastline (Côte d’Azur) has recently found an abundance of masks, gloves, and empty bottles of hand sanitizer amongst the usual debris of aluminum cans, plastic bags, and soda rings. The massive amounts of PPE showing up on shorelines this quickly goes to show just how much is being discarded improperly on our beaches and streets. Soon there will be more masks in the ocean than there are jellyfish in the Mediterranean, wrote Laurent Lonbard on social media. That does not even include all other forms of protective equipment such as face shields, sanitizer bottles, gloves, etc.

It is widely understood that single-use plastics and other waste products are bad for the environment; however, with the pandemic, disposable PPE has become a necessity. The UN Conference on Trade and Development estimates that global PPE sales in 2020 will increase 200-fold to $166 billion from around $800 million in 2019. Besides littering, another caveat of protective equipment is its hazardous nature, making it nearly impossible to dispose of without risking employee infection and exposure. Only around 15-25 percent of medical waste is uncontaminated when it is disposed of. While there are developments in sanitizing medical waste, many countries have resorted to burning it. The downside to open burns is the possibility for secondary transmission, as well as the release of toxins into the atmosphere.

People might assume that it is only gloves that are the problem; but masks are also problematic, as they are made from a type of plastic known as polypropylene. Polypropylene can take anywhere from 20 to 30 years to fully decompose. Plastics that have been left in the oceans begin to break down into what we know as nano and microplastics. Nanoplastics are pieces of plastic smaller than one micrometer, while microplastics are five micrometers or smaller. These tiny particles never truly disappear and remain in our oceans in large numbers. Sadly, though the detriments of plastic pollution are widely understood, it is not regarded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a pollutant worthy of mitigation efforts. For more information on microplastics, please take a look at our YouTube video, A Deeper Look Into Microplastics.

Currently, around eight million tons of plastic end up in our oceans every year, adding to the 155 billion tons already accounted for. Excessive plastic in the oceans threatens not only the marine environments it has encroached upon, but also human health and safety as the chemicals found in plastics bioaccumulate throughout the food chain. Oftentimes, marine biota confuse larger plastics for food, and thousands of animals are found dead annually from consuming or being entangled by plastic products. Researchers found around 25 percent of fish in California markets contained at least some microplastics, and in the Northeast alone it is thought that fish consume upwards of 24,000 tons of plastic each year.

Looking towards the North Pacific, The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest accumulation of plastic pollution in the world. Marine debris leaves many species vulnerable to death by plastic consumption, like the albatross, which often mistake small microplastic pellets for fish eggs, which they then feed to their young. Sea turtles also mistake items like plastic bags and medical gloves for one of their favorite snacks, while jellyfish and sea birds are often found dead on beaches due to ingesting excessive plastic debris.

The biological impact of plastic pollution doesn’t stop with the food chain. Considering that the PPE that ends up in the ocean has been used, we should be wondering how this could affect our water supply in the long term. Could we be cultivating secondary transmission if our drinking water becomes permanently tainted by contaminated PPE?

Based on the research presented above, it is logical to predict that if we continue to pollute at this rate, we will make it through COVID but we may not make it past the consequences of our environmental negligence. The Center for Biological Diversity concluded that “Billions of pounds of plastic can be found in swirling convergences that make up about 40 percent of the world's ocean surfaces. At current rates, plastic is expected to outweigh all the fish in the sea by 2050.” As PPE has multiplied the plastic production market by 200-fold, it will catastrophically exacerbate the downfall of aquatic biota if we do not begin to implement reusable and environmentally friendly protective equipment. If we do not act now, it may be too late to ever rehabilitate the ocean and every living thing in it.

How can you help the environment while maintaining your health and safety? Some basic steps to take in mitigating your own plastic pollution amidst the pandemic include; buying or making reusable cloth masks (there are many videos online that act as guides for upcycling old clothing into masks), refilling hand sanitizer bottles, making your own sanitizer, buying gloves of completely biodegradable material, and properly disposing of personal protective equipment. Even small steps like this, when accepted and implemented by the masses, can help mitigate environmental degradation.

Environmental Impact of Single-Use PPE