Personal protective equipment (PPE) pollution driven by the COVID-19 pandemic in coastal environment, Southeast Coast of India

Personal protective equipment (PPE) pollution driven by COVID-19 pandemic in Marina Beach, the longest urban beach in Asia: Abundance, distribution, and analytical characterization

“…In addition, PPE is discarded in landfills without appropriate management due to the lack of resources to manage this type of litter. Drainage systems are also identified as sources of PPE on beaches ( Gunasekaran et al, 2022 ). Wind, inundation by rainwater, and rivers are the primary pathways of face masks to marine environments.…”

“…In the end, adding a large charge to traditional solid waste management systems. There are several studies worldwide on the inappropriate disposal of PPE litter ( Ben Haddad et al, 2021 ; De-la-Torre et al, 2021 ; Aragaw et al, 2022 ; Gunasekaran et al, 2022 ; Mghili et al, 2022 ; Dioses-Salinas et al, 2022 ; Ribeiro et al, 2022 ; Sajorne et al, 2022). Benson et al (2021) estimated that approximately 3.4 billion face masks were discarded each day.…”

“…It was estimated that 1.56 billion facemasks are presently disposed in the world's oceans ( OceansAsia, 2020 ). Scientists have recorded their presence on the beaches of Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Kenya, Morocco, India, Bangladesh, Iran, Ethiopia, and the Philippines ( Okuku et al, 2020a ; Ardusso et al, 2021 ; Ben Haddad et al, 2021 ; De-la-Torre et al., 2022a , De-la-Torre et al, 2022b , De-la-Torre et al, 2022c ; Gunasekaran et al, 2022 ; Rakib et al, 2021 ; Thiel et al, 2021 ; Aragaw et al, 2022 ; Hassan et al, 2022 ; Sajorne et al, 2022; Mohamadi et al, 2023 ). Nevertheless, the present data is insufficient to have a global overview of marine pollution by PPE.…”

“…It is estimated that the average amount of biomedical waste generated by COVID-19 in December 2021 is nearly 72.8 tons per day ( CPCB, 2021 ). Recent reports have been published indicating that litter related to COVID-19 is not correctly discarded on Indian beaches ( Gunasekaran et al, 2022 ). Ineffective litter management as well as the litter disposal behavior of the population are among the causes of marine litter pollution on beaches.…”

“…Also, Asian rivers have discharged a huge amount of PPE into the sea and oceans ( Peng et al, 2021 ). Only a few studies have investigated the occurrence and distribution of PPE along the beaches of Tamil Nadu ( Gunasekaran et al, 2022 ). Data on PPE pollution on Indian beaches is still lacking.…”