Coronavirus: Hong Kong researchers discover masks could pollute over 54,000 Olympic pools worth of seawater
- City University lab study finds masks in ocean could take up to 1,000 years to decompose
- Researcher warns residents to ‘properly dispose’ of facial coverings to prevent microplastic pollution
Discarded surgical masks which fall into the sea could be releasing microplastics as they degrade, polluting an amount of water equal to 54,800 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Dr He Yuhe at City University’s State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution made the discovery after spotting discarded masks at local beaches, which have seen an influx of local visitors looking for weekend haunts amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“The Covid-19 pandemic is still ongoing, and naturally if people are wearing surgical masks, then people are also dropping them,” He said.
“We really urge residents to be alert when they are out in the countryside and properly dispose of their used surgical masks to prevent them from being swept into the sea by wind or rain,” he added.
Surgical masks have become a necessity to prevent the spread of Covid-19, with an estimated 129 billion used worldwide each month in 2020.
