4.7 Article

Fate of face masks after being discarded into seawater: Aging and microbial colonization

Journal

JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
Volume 436, Issue -, Pages -

Publisher

ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129084

Keywords

Masks; Plastic pollution; Aging; Marine environment; Microbials

Funding

  1. Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission of China [JCYJ20180507182227257, KQTD20180412181334790]
  2. National Natural Science Foundation of China [41976140, 42076148, 42006141]
  3. Guangxi Key Research and Development Program of China [GUIKE AB20297018]
  4. Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation [2019A1515011630]

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Billions of discarded masks have entered the oceans since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. A study reveals that after 30 days of exposure in natural seawater, masks undergo significant aging and become covered with microbial colonies and fouling organisms. These findings provide fundamental data for managing this important plastic waste during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Billions of discarded masks have entered the oceans since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Current reports mostly discuss the potential of masks as plastic pollution, but there has been no study on the fate of this emerging plastic waste in the marine environment. Therefore, we exposed masks in natural seawater and evaluated their aging and effects on the microbial community using a combination of physicochemical and biological techniques. After 30-day exposure in natural seawater, the masks suffered from significant aging. Microbial colonizers such as Rhodobacteraceae Flavobacteriaceae, Vibrionaceae and fouling organisms like calcareous tubeworms Hydroides elegans were massively present on the masks. The roughness and modulus of the mask fiber increased 3 and 5 times, respectively, and the molecular weight decreased 7%. The growth of biofouling organisms caused the masks negatively buoyant after 14-30 days. Our study sheds some light on the fate of discarded masks in a coastal area and provides fundamental data to manage this important plastic waste during COVID-19 pandemic.

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