If there is one fashion item that will define the year 2020, it is the facemask. Facemasks have helped prevent the spread of Covid-19 and saved lives. However, there is now a major ecological problem brewing in the form of plastic disposable facemasks that have found their way into the world's oceans. A Hong Kong based environmental group, OceansAsia, now even estimates that as many as 1.5 billion facemasks entered the world's oceans in 2020.
The danger from these facemasks to the ocean environment and the living-creatures that make the ocean home, can not be underestimated. These masks can be ingested which can result in an animal dying or being severely injured. They can also leak micro-plastics into the ocean and cause pollution that can even alter the DNA of some animals. The average disposable facemask will remain in the ocean for around 450 years before it breaks-down and, therefore, this issue is likely to be one that affects the world's oceans long into the future.
Dr. Teale Phelps Bondaroff, of OceansAsia, told reporters:
"Once plastic enters the marine environment, it's very difficult to move. The fact that we are starting to find masks that are breaking up indicates that this is a real problem, that microplastics are being produced by masks."
He added:
"The question that we couldn't answer was how many [masks] are entering our oceans? We just didn't know. The 1.56 billion face masks that have entered our oceans in 2020 are there for the long run. They will remain in the ocean for 450 years or more, and they'll break into smaller pieces. We need to keep people safe, but at the same time that has a lasting impact on our environment, and we're seeing that on the beaches."
Environmental activists are encouraging people to wear specially designed fabric reusable masks where possible in order to cut down on plastic pollution. They, however, warn that these reusable masks should only be bought from reputable retailers who have their products safety checked by official authorities to guarantee their effectiveness against spreading Covid-19.
According to the United Nations, there is now an estimated 100 million tons of plastic in the world's oceans. This plastic waste comes from both human habitations and human industries as well as maritime industries such as fishing. The situation has now got to so bad that some researchers believe that if more is not done, by 2050, the weight of all the plastic in the oceans will outweigh the weight of all the fish living in the oceans, seriously threatening the existence of a huge number of species and the ocean eco-system as a whole.
To counter this situation, governments and businesses in many countries are implementing laws and regulations to limit plastic waste. For instance, banning the use of single-use plastics such as drinking straws, plastic water bottles and plastic packaging. Other approaches are also being sought to counter plastic-pollution, including developing materials that naturally bio-degrade in a short-period of time and which do not emit dangerous chemicals.
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