https://www.thesouthafrican.com/lifestyle/environment/over-1-5-billion-face-masks-now-believed-to-be-polluting-worlds-oceans/As 2020 draws to a close, one of the most recognizable symbols of the year is the protective face mask.
As the novel coronavirus swept across the globe earlier this year, billions of people began wearing the face coverings, with one study estimating that no less than 129 billion face masks were being used every month around the world.
However, as face masks have become ubiquitous in our day-to-day lives, they’ve also grown to litter every corner of our neighborhoods, from storm drains to lakes, to parks to beaches.
And now, it turns out that our oceans are teeming with face masks too, some 1.5 billion of the coverings in fact, according to a new report from marine conservation NGO OceansAsia.
Disposable face masks can take more than 450 years to break down!
“Once plastic enters the marine environment, it’s very difficult to move,” said Dr. Teale Phelps Bondaroff, the OceansAsia’s director of research.