More masks than jellyfish: how 'coronavirus' waste pollutes the ocean

An excess of discarded disposable masks and gloves clogs the seabed and is washed by the waves on the beaches, says The Guardian.

Photo: Shutterstock

Conservationists have warned that the coronavirus pandemic could cause a surge in ocean pollution - on top of the glut of plastic waste that is already threatening marine life. Experts came to this conclusion after discovering disposable masks floating like jellyfish and latex gloves filled with water scattered on the seabed.

The French non-profit organization Opération Mer Propre, whose activities include the regular collection of garbage along the Cote d'Azur, began to sound the alarm in late May.

The divers found what the organization's Geoffrey Peltier called "Covid waste" - dozens of gloves, masks and bottles of hand sanitizer in the Mediterranean waves, mixed with common rubbish in the form of disposable cups and aluminum cans.

According to Peltier, the number of masks and gloves found was far from huge. But he is concerned that this discovery is hinting at a new type of contamination that will become ubiquitous after millions of people around the world use disposable accessories to protect against coronavirus.

“This promises that pollution will occur if nothing is done,” Pelletier said.

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In France alone, authorities ordered two billion disposable masks, said Laurent Lombard of the Opération Mer Propre.

“There is a risk that there will soon be more masks than jellyfish in the Mediterranean,” he wrote on social media, along with a dive video showing algae-tangled masks and dirty gloves in the sea near Antibes.

The group hopes that images will encourage people to use reusable masks, and instead of wearing latex gloves wash their hands more often.

“With all the alternatives, plastic is not a Covid solution,” says Pelletier.

In the years leading up to the pandemic, environmentalists warned of the threat plastic pollution posed to oceans and marine life. According to a 2018 UN Environment estimate, up to 13 million tons of plastic enters the oceans each year. 570 tonnes of plastic enter the Mediterranean Sea each year - an amount that the World Wildlife Fund has described as equivalent to 000 plastic bottles being dumped into the sea every minute.

These numbers could increase significantly as countries around the world are struggling with the coronavirus pandemic. Masks often contain plastic, such as polypropylene, says French politician Eric Pauge.

“With a lifespan of 450 years, these masks are an environmental time bomb given their long-term environmental consequences on our planet,” he wrote to Emmanuel Macron last month, calling on the French president to do more to tackle the environmental consequences of single-use waste.

Earlier this year, representatives of OceansAsia, a Hong Kong-based organization, began to raise similar concerns after scoring dozens of disposable masks on marine debris on the uninhabited Soko Islands.

"We found about 100 on a beach that's about 70 meters long," said Gary Stokes of OceansAsia. “A week later, another 30 masks washed ashore. And this is on an uninhabited island who knows where!”

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Wanting to know how far the masks sailed, he began checking out other nearby beaches.

“We find them everywhere,” he said. “Ever since society started wearing masks, cause and effect have been visible on the beaches.”

He suggested that light masks were also occasionally carried by wind from land, boats, and landfills.

“It's just another piece of marine debris,” Stokes said, comparing the masks to the plastic bags or straws that often wash up on more distant urban shores. “It’s not better, it’s not worse, it’s just another item that we leave as a legacy for the next generation.”

However, given the likelihood that porpoises and dolphins might take the mask for food, environmentalists are gearing up for grim finds.

“Their bodies keep washing up on the shore, and we’re just waiting for an autopsy to find the mask inside,” he said. "I think it's inevitable."

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

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