Environmental and Human Health Impact of Disposable Face Masks During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Wood-Feeding Termites as a Model for Plastic Biodegradation

Abstract

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented form of plastic pollution: personal protective equipment (PPE). On the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a tremendous increase in the production of plastic-based PPE. To control the spread of the virus, face masks (FMs) are used as primary PPE. Thus, the production and usage of FM significantly increased as the COVID-19 pandemic was still escalating. The primary raw materials for the manufacturing of FMs are non-biodegradable synthetic polymers derived from petrochemicals. This calls for an urgent need to develop novel strategies for the efficient degradation of plastics. Furthermore, most of these masks contain plastic or other derivatives of plastic. The extensive usage of FM generates millions of tons of plastic waste for the environment in a short span of time. However, their degradation in the environment and consequences are poorly understood. Therefore, the potential impacts of disposable FM on the environment and human health during the COVID-19 pandemic are clarified in the present study. Despite structural and recalcitrance variations, lignocellulose and plastic polymers have physicochemical features, including carbon skeletons with comparable chemical bonds as well as hydrophobic properties in amorphous and crystalline regions. In this review, we argue that there is much to be learned from termites by transferring knowledge from research on lignocellulose degradation by termites to that on plastic waste.

Pandemic COVID-19 ends but soil pollution increases: Impacts and a new approach for risk assessment

“…1 ; Benson et al, 2021 ). The main solid contaminants arising from protective products are plastic particles, which enter the soil environment through improper disposal ( Al-Tohamy et al, 2023 ). For example, the decomposition of masks, medical gloves and protective clothing produces micro- and/or nano-sized plastic particles ( Xu et al, 2020 ).…”

Nature’s Plastic Predators: A Comprehensive and Bibliometric Review of Plastivore Insects

“…Termites can digest lignocellulose at ordinary temperatures, unlike herbivorous mammals. Their digestion process is highly effective, with typical bioconversion rates exceeding 95% within a day, facilitated by the breakdown of cellulose (74–99%), hemicellulose (65–87%), and lignin (5–83%) [ 74 ]. Transcriptomic analysis reveals that termite host tissues produce a multitude of cellulases, hemicellulases, and lignin-degrading enzymes, thereby aiding in lignocellulose degradation [ 75 ].…”

“…Table 1 presents various reports documenting the consumption of plastic by termites and ants. The ability of termites to degrade plastic implies that the non-specific enzymatic mechanism employed for breaking down plant-based resilient lignocellulose might be exapted for synthetic polymers [ 74 ]. Consequently, herbivorous insect hosts represent a promising source enzyme for depolymerizing synthetic plastics, potentially originating from preconditioning on these natural polymers [ 76 ].…”

How Communities Can Respond to Mask Contamination in the Post-Epidemic Era

“…With the normalization of epidemic prevention and control, masks are still indispensable epidemic prevention items in people's lives in the post epidemic era, the "new pollution" caused by discarded masks should be concerned by the government, society, experts and more people, to prevent and eliminate the "new pollution" generated by disposable masks. The prevention and elimination of the "new pollution" caused by disposable masks has become a problem that needs to be solved by the government and the society [4]. In this paper, we will focus on how to standardize the disposal of discarded masks in the community, to eliminate the pollution caused by masks and to protect our homes.…”