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      Disposable masks release microplastics to the aqueous environment with exacerbation by natural weathering

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          Abstract

          The COVID-19 pandemic has driven explosive growth in the use of masks has resulted in many issues related to the disposal and management of waste masks. As improperly disposed masks enter the ocean, the risk to the marine ecological system is further aggravated, especially in the shoreline environment. The objective of this study is to explore the changing characteristics and environmental behaviors of disposable masks when exposed to the shoreline environment. The transformation of chain structure and chemical composition of masks as well as the decreased mechanical strength of masks after UV weathering were observed. The melt-blown cloth in the middle layer of masks was found to be particularly sensitive to UV irradiation. A single weathered mask can release more than 1.5 million microplastics to the aqueous environment. The physical abrasion caused by sand further exacerbated the release of microplastic particles from masks, with more than 16 million particles released from just one weathered mask in the presence of sand. The study results indicate that shorelines are not only the main receptor of discarded masks from oceans and lands, but also play host to further transformation of masks to plastic particles.

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          Microplastics in the marine environment.

          Anthony Andrady (2011)
          This review discusses the mechanisms of generation and potential impacts of microplastics in the ocean environment. Weathering degradation of plastics on the beaches results in their surface embrittlement and microcracking, yielding microparticles that are carried into water by wind or wave action. Unlike inorganic fines present in sea water, microplastics concentrate persistent organic pollutants (POPs) by partition. The relevant distribution coefficients for common POPs are several orders of magnitude in favour of the plastic medium. Consequently, the microparticles laden with high levels of POPs can be ingested by marine biota. Bioavailability and the efficiency of transfer of the ingested POPs across trophic levels are not known and the potential damage posed by these to the marine ecosystem has yet to be quantified and modelled. Given the increasing levels of plastic pollution of the oceans it is important to better understand the impact of microplastics in the ocean food web. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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            To mask or not to mask: Modeling the potential for face mask use by the general public to curtail the COVID-19 pandemic

            Steffen Eikenberry, Marina Mancuso, Enahoro Iboi … (2020)
            Face mask use by the general public for limiting the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic is controversial, though increasingly recommended, and the potential of this intervention is not well understood. We develop a compartmental model for assessing the community-wide impact of mask use by the general, asymptomatic public, a portion of which may be asymptomatically infectious. Model simulations, using data relevant to COVID-19 dynamics in the US states of New York and Washington, suggest that broad adoption of even relatively ineffective face masks may meaningfully reduce community transmission of COVID-19 and decrease peak hospitalizations and deaths. Moreover, mask use decreases the effective transmission rate in nearly linear proportion to the product of mask effectiveness (as a fraction of potentially infectious contacts blocked) and coverage rate (as a fraction of the general population), while the impact on epidemiologic outcomes (death, hospitalizations) is highly nonlinear, indicating masks could synergize with other non-pharmaceutical measures. Notably, masks are found to be useful with respect to both preventing illness in healthy persons and preventing asymptomatic transmission. Hypothetical mask adoption scenarios, for Washington and New York state, suggest that immediate near universal (80%) adoption of moderately (50%) effective masks could prevent on the order of 17–45% of projected deaths over two months in New York, while decreasing the peak daily death rate by 34–58%, absent other changes in epidemic dynamics. Even very weak masks (20% effective) can still be useful if the underlying transmission rate is relatively low or decreasing: In Washington, where baseline transmission is much less intense, 80% adoption of such masks could reduce mortality by 24–65% (and peak deaths 15–69%), compared to 2–9% mortality reduction in New York (peak death reduction 9–18%). Our results suggest use of face masks by the general public is potentially of high value in curtailing community transmission and the burden of the pandemic. The community-wide benefits are likely to be greatest when face masks are used in conjunction with other non-pharmaceutical practices (such as social-distancing), and when adoption is nearly universal (nation-wide) and compliance is high.
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              Plasticenta: First evidence of microplastics in human placenta

              Antonio Ragusa, Alessandro Svelato, Criselda Santacroce … (2021)
              Microplastics are particles smaller than five millimeters deriving from the degradation of plastic objects present in the environment. Microplastics can move from the environment to living organisms, including mammals. In this study, six human placentas, collected from consenting women with physiological pregnancies, were analyzed by Raman Microspectroscopy to evaluate the presence of microplastics. In total, 12 microplastic fragments (ranging from 5 to 10 μm in size), with spheric or irregular shape were found in 4 placentas (5 in the fetal side, 4 in the maternal side and 3 in the chorioamniotic membranes); all microplastics particles were characterized in terms of morphology and chemical composition. All of them were pigmented; three were identified as stained polypropylene a thermoplastic polymer, while for the other nine it was possible to identify only the pigments, which were all used for man-made coatings, paints, adhesives, plasters, finger paints, polymers and cosmetics and personal care products.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Journal ID (nlm-ta): J Hazard Mater
                Journal ID (iso-abbrev): J Hazard Mater
                Title: Journal of Hazardous Materials
                Publisher: Published by Elsevier B.V.
                ISSN (Print): 0304-3894
                ISSN (Electronic): 1873-3336
                Publication date PMC-release: 8 May 2021
                Publication date (Print): 5 September 2021
                Publication date (Electronic): 8 May 2021
                Volume: 417
                Page: 126036
                Affiliations
                [a ]Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, QC H3G 1M8, Canada
                [b ]Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainable Communities, University of Regina, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada
                [c ]Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Ecosystem Science, Ottawa, ON K1A 0E6, Canada
                [d ]Northern Region Persistent Organic Pollutant Control (NRPOP) Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University, St. John’s, NL A1B 3X5, Canada
                Author notes
                [* ]Corresponding author.
                Article
                Publisher Item ID: S0304-3894(21)01000-1 Publisher ID: 126036
                DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126036
                PMC ID: 8734940
                PubMed ID: 34015713
                SO-VID: 200ae76d-e14b-4b26-9f6e-7170a8efe1a7
                Copyright © Crown Copyright © 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
                License:

                Since January 2020 Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre - including this research content - immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active.

                History
                Date received : 12 March 2021
                Date revision received : 11 April 2021
                Date accepted : 23 April 2021
                Categories
                Subject: Research Paper

                Keywords: disposable mask,microplastic,shoreline,natural weathering
                Data availability:
                Keywords: disposable mask, microplastic, shoreline, natural weathering

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