Face masks and COVID-19
NOVEL Coronavirus (COVID-19) was initiated in Chinese city of Wuhan, Hebei Province in 2019.
This disease after its birth swiftly sprouted across the world; the studies revealed that by February 2020 the every-day count affected by covid-19 has drastically increased outside China.
Countries like, USA, Italy South Korea, Spain, Germany and Iran are the hotspots of first and second Covid-19 wave.
Due to alarming spread and severity World Health Organization(WHO) has characterized this disease as a pandemic.
This disease has affected more than 200 countries with not only taking a toll on health systems but it has totally hijacked the rhythm of out routines.
Coronavirus after its onslaught in Pakistan has spread tremendously resulting in introduction of an improvised, new market associated with face masks.
The demand of face masks has increased to an extent that it has by passed the pandemic numbers which are increasing with every passing day.
As per estimates of WHO approximately 89 million masks will be required all over the world to tackle Covid-19 each month.
During the early stage of pandemic frontline medical staff and public stressed for masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE), initially the mask production companies battled hard against the hurdles from illness to freight costs from hording to a supply squeeze on filter fabric.
With the increase in realization and requirements the face mask, industry has tackled all the hurdles making Pakistan one of the prominent manufacturers of face mask and other associated PPE’s.
After lifting the lockdown in September enforcement on wearing face masks was made mandatory by government resulting in increased demand of face masks.
There are no exact figures of facemasks produced in country but lots of industries starting from textile to even Pakistan Ordinance Factory (POF)have been busy in meeting the growing requirements of the face masks and other medical equipment in Pakistan.
On one side, Coronavirus has been a blessing for the nature as it has provided time for Mother Nature to heal itself, starting from return of dolphins in Italian coasts, emissions dropped by 17% resulting in curing of ozone layer.
Earth witnessed clear skies and abrupt decrease in pollution levels – promising sight for the sustainability of our environment. European Space Agency (ESA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) revealed pollution level in some of the hotspots of Covid-19 (USA, Spain Wuhan, and Italy) has reduced up to 30%.
On the other side, unfortunately with healing came the harm in the form of face masks and other PPEs.
Due to Covid-19 outbreak a large number of PPE is supplied to the front line workers and families of affected people.
With plastic as the major contributor of PPEs has made Coronavirus waste a new growing form of pollution, with disturbing images and videos of our oceans flooded with masks and PPEs has already ringing alarms in many countries.
Wearing face mask is now a legal requirement in Pakistan like other countries but they are turning out to be a disaster for both the land and sea.
People are compelled to wear the mask but very little has been briefed about how to dispose of the mask properly.
Most of the masks are made from enduring plastic materials, when they are cast-off improperly (like we do by throwing on streets and dumps) they may last in environment for decades to 100 of years resulting in serious impact on environment and people.
Who is affected by these masks at first stage…? It has been documented that virus can survive on surfaces (plastic mask) up to seven days, the sanitary workers or waste collectors who come in contact with these disposed masks will be the first victim of Coronavirus. The second affected are plants and animals.
Due to its utter mass plastic waste can destroy ecosystem, most of the animals cannot differentiate between their prey and plastic as a result they choke to death on these pieces of plastic/litter.
Even if they don’t choke they can be victim of malnutrition as the material fills up their stomachs without any nutrients.
The small size animals mostly birds may entangle in elastic bands with the masks resulting in death.
Plastic decomposes very slowly and remains in the environment for a longer time, if it’s in the environment it will keep on decomposing.
The process of decomposition results transformation of plastic to micro-plastic and later on into even smaller nano-plastics; these tiny particles are mostly long-lived polymers which find their way into aquifers and ultimately in the human food chains.
One single mask can decompose into several tiny particles that can facilitate growth of bacteria and chemicals that ultimately find their way to food chain.
What should be done? We should go for reusable masks, keeping in mind their design and how you can specifically clean them makes the difference.
The University College London team identified reusable masks with no filters had very small environmental impact throughout the year.
A way to extend the life of disposable masks is to disinfect them without affecting the shape and other characteristics of the masks.
A study published in the Journal of the International Society for Respiratory Protection represented heating as a way in which a disposable mask may be disinfected without compromising their effectiveness.
The study showed promising results but the sophistication required for properly disinfecting these masks was not practical for general public.
In the similar study they also identified reusable masks as more practical and effective as compared to disposable masks. Another suggestion is to make material of disposable masks environment friendly that decompose on its own in short span of time but that however will increase the cost of masks.
The government should involve public and charitable organizations and sensitize them for cleanliness activities at beaches, rivers, streams and to properly dispose of masks rather than draining them and throwing on the roads, streets and dumping sites.
Re-sale of discarded masks has been reported which contains serious health concerns and authorities should take notice of such contaminated masks.
Sale of unhygienic and unpacked masks can result in more serious health hazards rather than saving human lives.
So, in a nutshell remember…
(1).Try using reusable masks and machine wash them regularly (do follow the instructions for the fabric) to save cost of the using disposable masks.
(2). Always carry a spare mask so that if you lose one you don’t have to buy a low-quality plastic mask.
(3). After using plastic mask, properly throw it by putting it into the bin or make sure you have discarded it in proper public waste.
(4). After using mask, place it at reasonable place at the entry of the house for reuse and don’t contaminate the environment of the home by used masks.
(5). No matter what happens, don’t litter them!
—Co-author Dr Toqeer Ahmed, COMSATS University, Islamabad.
