TY - JOUR
T1 - Personal protective equipment (PPE) pollution driven by COVID-19 pandemic in Marina Beach, the longest urban beach in Asia
T2 - Abundance, distribution, and analytical characterization
AU - Kannan, Gunasekaran
AU - Mghili, Bilal
AU - De-la-Torre, Gabriel Enrique
AU - Kolandhasamy, Prabhu
AU - Machendiranathan, Mayakrishnan
AU - Rajeswari, Mayavan Veeramuthu
AU - Saravanakumar, Ayyappan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2023/1
Y1 - 2023/1
N2 - COVID-19 pandemic has enforced the use of personal protective equipment (PPE, masks and gloves). However, the mismanagement of litter are exacerbating the increasing plastic issue worldwide. In the present study, we sampled discarded PPE in 10 sites along Marina Beach, India. We characterized the litter types by chemical analysis techniques. A total of 1154 COVID-19-associated PPE items were found on Marina beach. The highest number of items were face masks (97.9 %) and the mean PPE density in the sites studied was 4 × 10−3 PPE m−2. The results demonstrate that poor solid waste management and lack of awareness are the main causes of pollution at Marina beach. FTIR spectroscopy revealed that face masks and gloves were principally made of polypropylene and latex, respectively. The FTIR spectra also showed signs of chemical degradation. Our results suggest that plastic pollution is increasing, possibly becoming more impactful to marine biota. Beach management measures were discussed.
AB - COVID-19 pandemic has enforced the use of personal protective equipment (PPE, masks and gloves). However, the mismanagement of litter are exacerbating the increasing plastic issue worldwide. In the present study, we sampled discarded PPE in 10 sites along Marina Beach, India. We characterized the litter types by chemical analysis techniques. A total of 1154 COVID-19-associated PPE items were found on Marina beach. The highest number of items were face masks (97.9 %) and the mean PPE density in the sites studied was 4 × 10−3 PPE m−2. The results demonstrate that poor solid waste management and lack of awareness are the main causes of pollution at Marina beach. FTIR spectroscopy revealed that face masks and gloves were principally made of polypropylene and latex, respectively. The FTIR spectra also showed signs of chemical degradation. Our results suggest that plastic pollution is increasing, possibly becoming more impactful to marine biota. Beach management measures were discussed.
KW - Coronavirus
KW - India
KW - Management
KW - Microplastics
KW - Plastic
KW - Polypropylene
KW - COVID-19
KW - Pandemics
KW - Asia
KW - Humans
KW - Personal Protective Equipment
KW - Plastics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85144070804&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114476
DO - 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114476
M3 - Artículo
C2 - 36529014
AN - SCOPUS:85144070804
SN - 0025-326X
VL - 186
SP - 114476
JO - Marine Pollution Bulletin
JF - Marine Pollution Bulletin
M1 - 114476
ER -
