Face masks are a ticking plastic bomb – Watts Up With That?

University of Southern Denmark

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IMAGE: discarded face masks collected in Odense City, Denmark. View More Credit: Elvis Genbo Xu / SDU

Recent studies estimate that we use an astonishing 129 billion face masks worldwide every month – that’s 3 million per minute. Most are disposable face masks made from plastic microfiber.

– With increasing reports of inappropriate mask disposal, there is an urgent need to identify this potential environmental threat and prevent it from becoming the next plastic problem, researchers warn in a comment in the journal Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering.

The researchers are environmental toxicologist Elvis Genbo Xu from the University of Southern Denmark and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Zhiyong Jason Ren from Princeton University.

No guidelines for mask recycling:

Disposable masks are plastic products that are not easily biodegradable, but can instead shatter into smaller plastic particles, namely microplastics and nanoplastics that are widely used in ecosystems.

The enormous production of disposable masks is similar to that of plastic bottles, which is estimated at 43 billion per month.

Unlike plastic bottles (about 25 percent of which is recycled), however, there are no official guidelines for recycling masks, so it is more likely to be disposed of as solid waste, the researchers write.

Greater concern than plastic bags:

If disposable masks are not recycled like other plastic waste, they can end up in the environment, freshwater systems and the oceans, where weathering can produce a large number of micro-sized particles (smaller than 5 mm) in a relatively short period of time (weeks) and another fragment in nanoplastics (smaller than 1 micrometer).

– A newer and bigger problem is that the masks are made directly from microscale plastic fibers (thickness from ~ 1 to 10 microns). When it collapses in the environment, the mask can release more micro-sized plastics, which are easier and faster than mass-produced plastics like plastic bags, the researchers add.

Such effects can be exacerbated by a new generation mask, nanomasks, which directly use nanosized plastic fibers (less than 1 micron in diameter) and add a new source of nanoplastic pollution.

– The researchers emphasize that they do not know how masks contribute to the large number of plastic particles found in the environment – simply because there is no data on mask degradation in nature.

– However, we know that, like other plastic waste, disposable masks can also accumulate and release harmful chemical and biological substances such as bisphenol A, heavy metals and pathogenic microorganisms. These can have indirect adverse effects on plants, animals and humans, says Elvis Genbo Xu.

What can we do?

Elvis Genbo Xu and Zhiyong Jason Ren have the following suggestions for solving the problem:

1. Set up garbage cans for masks only for collection and disposal
2. Take into account standardization, guidelines and strict implementation of waste management for mask waste
3. Replace disposable masks with reusable face masks such as cotton masks
4. Consider developing biodegradable disposal masks.

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From EurekAlert!

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