The face mask has been the most visible weapon in our fight against Covid-19, with an estimated 129 billion of them used each month. From a health perspective, they have been vital, but the environmental cost has been enormous, as the majority of these masks are disposal units made from plastic microfibers.
“With increasing reports on inappropriate disposal of masks, it is urgent to recognize this potential environmental threat and prevent it from becoming the next plastic problem,” the authors of a new paper warn.
The authors highlight that disposable masks are plastic products that can’t easily be biodegraded. Instead, they tend to break up into smaller plastic particles that spread throughout the ecosystem.
Bottling it up
They argue that the scale of mask production has created a problem on a similar scale to that posed by plastic bottles, of which around 43 billion are used every month. Where masks differ from bottles, however, is that there are no official guidelines on how to recycle masks, which means they’re far more likely to be disposed of as solid waste.
If the masks aren’t sent for recycling, they can easily end up spewed across the environment, clogging up oceans and freshwater systems. What’s more, the masks can be weathered by the elements and a huge number of microsized particles are created, with these further fragmenting into nanoplastics.
“A newer and bigger concern is that the masks are directly made from microsized plastic fibers (thickness of ~1 to 10 micrometers). When breaking down in the environment, the mask may release more micro-sized plastics, easier and faster than bulk plastics like plastic bags,” the authors say. “Such impacts can be worsened by a new-generation mask, nanomasks, which directly use nano-sized plastic fibers (with a diameter smaller than 1 micrometer) and add a new source of nanoplastic pollution.”
While there is no actual data on the contribution masks are making to the plastic littering ur environment to date, they are confident that the impact is a significant one.
“We know that, like other plastic debris, disposable masks may also accumulate and release harmful chemical and biological substances, such as bisphenol A, heavy metals, as well as pathogenic micro-organisms. These may pose indirect adverse impacts on plants, animals and humans,” they say.
They conclude with a number of tips for better management of the waste produced by masks:
- Set up mask-only trash cans for collection and disposal
- Consider standardization, guidelines, and strict implementation of waste management for mask wastes
- Replace disposable masks with reusable face masks like cotton masks
- Consider the development of biodegradable disposal masks.
