As if the scourge of plastic waste weren’t enough of an issue for the global ecosystem... now it's PPE...
One of the most distinguishable features of the COVID-19 era is the public, everyday use of personal protective equipment (PPE), mainly in the form of disposable face masks and latex gloves. And while these thin layers protect us and others from transmitting and contracting SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes the lower respiratory tract disease, scientists are now beginning to understand just how harmful these objects can be for ecosystems and wildlife.
Grounded flights: One of the early victims of COVID-19 litter,
an American robin (Turdus migratorius), was found entangled in a
face mask in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada, in April 2020.
Photograph by Sandra Denisuk. (Animal Biology 2021;
10.1163/15707563-bja10052)
The demand for PPE has put some countries on a war footing, to give
governments sweeping wartime authorities to control the economy and
compel private businesses to join national fights against the
pandemic. “Our national plan launches a full-scale war-time effort
to address the supply shortages by ramping up production and
protective equipment, syringes, needles, you name it,” said
President Joe Biden in January. Even the inventor of the lifesaving
N95 mask favored by front-line medical workers, Dr. Peter Tsai, said
that countries should stockpile PPE as if they were on a war
footing. “Weapons are not profitable,” he said in August. “But they
need to have the weapons and then they don’t use them for 10 or 20
years. You need to see this kind of PPE as military weapons.” A
majority of U.S. states, as well as the District of Columbia and
Puerto Rico, have instituted “mask mandates” requiring people to
wear face coverings in public to limit the spread of COVID-19....
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