The Environmental Impact Of Covid Masks & PPE

Uncle Birchy

Well-Known Member
I saw on tv other day about how masks and all the protective gear is ending up in the environment.

Come to think of it when I go to a store or somewhere I often see masks, rubber gloves, and handy wipes tossed around on the ground.

Found this article about it too.

There’s no question about it: all the disposable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in our waste stream is taking a toll on the environment. A recent study in the journal Environmental Science & Technology found that we are using some 129 billion disposable masks and 65 billion disposable gloves every month around the world nowadays as we try to stay safe in the midst of the worst pandemic to hit the human race in a century.

Most of the masks in the U.S. are made out of polypropylene-based plastic but some are made from related forms of plastic such as polystyrene, polycarbonate, polyethylene or polyester. These synthetic fibers are designed to resist liquids and do not biodegrade in the environment once discarded, instead breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces of plastic that end up in landfills or, even worse, as litter that finds its way into waterways and the ocean.

Some of the discarded PPE ends up in medical waste bins and is shipped off to an incinerator for disposal, which unfortunately may not be any better for our health or the environment. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), incinerators send particulate matter, heavy metals, acid gases, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and other noxious pollutants airborne. As such, environmental advocates aren’t happy about a plan by the United Nations to help communities around the world set up their own small local incinerators to deal with PPE and other COVID-related waste.

Meanwhile, reusable masks may have a longer life as a useful product, but that doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily biodegrade in the environment when their time comes. Most are made from cheap synthetic fabrics like nylon or polyester and are prone to breakage and short lifespans, and can last even longer and wreak more havoc when littered into the environment.

The upshot of all this is that we’ll have discarded PPE from the pandemic around for a lot longer than we would like. It joins the rotting plastic that sits in landfills, washes up on beaches and floats in oceans, amounting to more than five trillion plastic particles contaminating the world’s surface waters. The particles are toxic to ecosystems and wildlife. Marine creatures can mistake mask remnants and fibers for food, and/or can get entangled in them so they can’t hunt, feed or eat.

 
I saw on tv other day about how masks and all the protective gear is ending up in the environment.

Come to think of it when I go to a store or somewhere I often see masks, rubber gloves, and handy wipes tossed around on the ground.

Found this article about it too.

There’s no question about it: all the disposable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in our waste stream is taking a toll on the environment. A recent study in the journal Environmental Science & Technology found that we are using some 129 billion disposable masks and 65 billion disposable gloves every month around the world nowadays as we try to stay safe in the midst of the worst pandemic to hit the human race in a century.

Most of the masks in the U.S. are made out of polypropylene-based plastic but some are made from related forms of plastic such as polystyrene, polycarbonate, polyethylene or polyester. These synthetic fibers are designed to resist liquids and do not biodegrade in the environment once discarded, instead breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces of plastic that end up in landfills or, even worse, as litter that finds its way into waterways and the ocean.

Some of the discarded PPE ends up in medical waste bins and is shipped off to an incinerator for disposal, which unfortunately may not be any better for our health or the environment. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), incinerators send particulate matter, heavy metals, acid gases, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and other noxious pollutants airborne. As such, environmental advocates aren’t happy about a plan by the United Nations to help communities around the world set up their own small local incinerators to deal with PPE and other COVID-related waste.

Meanwhile, reusable masks may have a longer life as a useful product, but that doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily biodegrade in the environment when their time comes. Most are made from cheap synthetic fabrics like nylon or polyester and are prone to breakage and short lifespans, and can last even longer and wreak more havoc when littered into the environment.

The upshot of all this is that we’ll have discarded PPE from the pandemic around for a lot longer than we would like. It joins the rotting plastic that sits in landfills, washes up on beaches and floats in oceans, amounting to more than five trillion plastic particles contaminating the world’s surface waters. The particles are toxic to ecosystems and wildlife. Marine creatures can mistake mask remnants and fibers for food, and/or can get entangled in them so they can’t hunt, feed or eat.

What kind of shithole stores are you going to? 😳
 
What kind of shithole stores are you going to? 😳
Not just stores I see that stuff thrown around alot of places.

I never really thought much about it until they were talking about it in television.

Take this cheap paper mask for instance as soon as you pull it off the strings break so it gets tossed.16177924386075877569041314301081.jpg
 
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It’s trash, just like everything else we see on the ground these days. Very common for us in this industry because we work with a bunch of pigs too lazy to use a trash can, or a bathroom, for that matter.

The masks, however, are becoming the plastic straw of 2021. They are everywhere, and simply an unintended consequence of a bad government advisement and private business requirement.
 
It is what it is.
They say I GOT to wear this mask, I don't want to wear the damned thing. I m dealing with it, "they" can deal with the aftermath.
Though, I am not ignorant enough to just toss it on the ground because I would consider a used mask a potential bio-hazard and I wouldn't want anyone to have to handle it.
 
What kind of shithole stores are you going to? 😳


See that from all the sheep tossing their PPE all over the place at gas stations etc. the NY thruway was disgusting when I was there in the service plazas.

Technically, this isn’t garbage. It’s biowaste since people have been sneezing, coughing and aspirating into it. And we’re supposed to just pick this shit up and toss it in the garbage as if it’s a ****ing candy wrapper.
 
Supposedly the virus can't survive outside of the human body for more than a few hours.

Those masks on the ground are probably no more of a health hazard than an empty drink cup or wadded up McDonald's bag. Unless it's only been on the ground for a short time.
 
Government said wear a mask, I chose not to.
Haven't worn a mask once since the lies began in March 2020. The mask nazi's can wear theirs, if they truly work, it would stop it.
 

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