Risks of Covid-19 face masks to wildlife: Present and future research needs

Abstract

The use of disposable face masks became essential to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in an unprecedented rise in their production and, unfortunately, to a new form of environmental contamination due to improper disposal. Recent publications reported the abundance of COVID-19-related litter in several environments, wildlife interaction with such items, and the contaminants that can be released from such protective equipment that has the potential to induce ecotoxicological effects. This paper provides a critical review of COVID-19 face mask occurrence in diverse environments and their adverse physiological and ecotoxicological effects on wildlife. It also outlines potential remediation strategies to mitigate the environmental challenge impose by COVID-19-related litter.

Implications of COVID-19 pandemic on environmental compartments: Is plastic pollution a major issue?

“…This fact has even raised illegal plastic waste disposal (e.g., open dumps or unregulated landfills) by 280% worldwide ( Reportlinker 2021 ) which inherently alters adjacent habitats and promotes plastic leakage. COVID-19 plastic waste, particularly PPE items, is already piling up in natural environments due to plastic leakage from waste facilities or intentional littering ( Silva et al, 2021 ). In addition, the number of volunteers doing clean-ups decreased substantially (near 91% in the U.S. ( Hart, 2021 )).…”

Microplastics in mangroves and coral reef ecosystems: a review

“…Improper disposal in landfills or by any other means, not only poses threat to human life, but also to the wildlife that may interact with disposed masks during their ingestion or during other activities. When microplastics form minor tangles within aquatic system, smaller invertebrates may get entangled within them and pose serious health hazards (Patrício Silva et al 2021). Therefore, proper management of plastic pollution is a prior responsibility to reduce the microplastic generation in environment, and to protect living organisms.…”

COVID-19, a double-edged sword for the environment: a review on the impacts of COVID-19 on the environment

“…Over time, these materials degrade into smaller pieces because of chemical, physical, and biological reactions happening in the environment, and initiation of degradation is mostly due to UV radiation (De-la-Torre and Aragaw 2021;Zhang et al 2021c;Saliu et al 2021;Hasan et al 2021;Patrício Silva et al 2021). The generated MPs persist in the environment and continue to pose risks to human health and the environment.…”

“…There is a risk of microplastics leaking into the ecosystems and affecting the survival, growth, reproduction, feeding, health status, and fitness of water inhabitants. By limiting their mobility and ability to feed, microplastics can pose a threat to the survival and reproduction of various aquatic organisms (Wright et al 2013;Mohsen et al 2019;Patrício Silva et al 2021). The larger MPs block light transfer and affect photosynthesis, whereas the smaller ones are adsorbed to surfaces and damage algal cell walls (Wu et al 2019;Liu et al 2020;Larue et al 2021).…”

“…Since microplastics have a longer half-life than most natural floating marine substrates, they can form unique hydrophobic surfaces called microgels by utilizing dissolved organic matters in the benthic regions of aquatic ecosystems that promote microbial colonization and biofilm formation. These microgels interrupt food networks in benthic ecosystems (Zettler et al 2013;Shiu et al 2020;Patrício Silva et al 2021).…”