In addition to the detailed data we’ve provided over the past year of the ineffectiveness of wearing masks to stop the virus and the negative health effects of wearing them, a report by Oceans Asia, a Hong Kong-based marine conservation organization, “Masks on the Beach: The Impact of COVID-19 on Marine Plastic Pollution,” found “an estimated 1.56 billion face masks entered the ocean in 2020.”
They note, “These masks will take as long as 450 years to break down, slowly turning into microplastics.”
The ecological devastation caused by COVID waste pollution is much more widespread. The research site Study Finds.org published an article on 30 March reporting on findings from the Dutch Naturalis Biodiversity Center.
Included in the report:
“Researchers note incidents of foxes in the United Kingdom and birds in Canada all becoming entangled in discarded face masks. Hedgehogs, seagulls, crabs, and even bats are all encountering disposable plastics in the environment.
The Dutch researchers are asking the public to report any incidents of COVID waste material pollution to www.covidlitter.com to help make this issue better known.”
A co-author of the Dutch report, Liselotte Rambonnet from Leiden University, told The Guardian on 29 March, “Animals become weakened due to becoming entangled, or starve due to the plastic in their stomach.”
The Guardian reported, “In September, items of PPE were found on nearly a third of beaches surveyed in the UK by beach-cleaning volunteers.”
Reports coming in from around the world from veterinarians, animal rescue organizations, and citizens who enjoy being out in nature show that the throwaway COVID protection materials are being ingested by dogs and monkeys and entangling birds, hedgehogs, and penguins.
The Dutch researchers first became aware of the problem when biologists discovered hundreds of face masks in one of the Netherlands’ most historic canals.
COVID waste pollution is not a new revelation. Back on 20 July, the BBC published an article titled, “The masks you throw away could end up killing a whale.” Included in the article:
“Globally we are using 129 billion face masks and 65 billion plastic gloves every month, according to some estimates. And divers and observers are spotting more of this discarded waste floating underwater, causing problems for wildlife and washing up on shorelines all over the world.”
TREND FORECAST: Beyond polluting the waters and the masks’ deadly effects on wildlife, it is now a common experience to see mask-trash littering sidewalks and the streets. It should also be noted that the mask-wearing phenomenon has just begun! Thus, the rivers and oceans will be more highly mask-polluted over the year,s as wearing them becomes a way of everyday life since we forecast the media and Big Pharma will continue to spread COVID War fear each winter for the coming years.
