When it comes to COVID-19 masks, gloves, and disinfectants, the transformation from protection to pollution happens quickly, but the damage can last for centuries.
We’ve all seen these discarded gloves and masks littering parking lots and sidewalks. Some of them make their way to rivers and oceans and wash up in remote, wild places. Invisibly, powerful disinfectants also end up in the water—and persist.
“We don’t need to wear gloves to go to the grocery store. It’s more efficient to just wash your hands with soap and water.”
Ana María Rule, an assistant professor in environmental health and engineering at Johns Hopkins University and an expert on aerosols and particulate matter, understands the protective powers of masks and advocates for their proper use.
Here, she talks about the environmental impact of pandemic plastics, and advocates for reducing their impact by using fewer of them, replacing them with reusable options when possible, disposing of them properly, and developing environmentally friendly alternatives:
The post Discarded COVID masks and gloves are really bad for the environment appeared first on Futurity.
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