Title
COVID-19-related personal protective equipment (PPE) contamination in the highly urbanized southeast Brazilian coast
Date Issued
01 April 2022
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Publisher(s)
Elsevier Ltd
Abstract
This study aimed to report personal protective equipment (PPE) contamination in Santos beaches (Brazil) using standardized procedures for the first time while comparing two periods to understand the progression of PPE contamination. The occurrence of PPE items was ubiquitous in all sampled sites, although the densities were relatively low compared to those in other parts of the world. Unlike previous studies, reusable face masks were the most common type of PPE. PPE density in the studied areas was similar in both sampling seasons, probably because of the influence of tourism, urbanization, and local hydrodynamic aspects. PPE items can release microfibers into the aquatic environment and pose entanglement hazards to marine biota. A wider monitoring of PPE pollution, accompanied by surveys on PPE usage and behavior, as well as chemical characterization of the discarded PPE items, is needed to fully understand this unprecedented form of plastic pollution.
Volume
177
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ciencias de la salud
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85124871864
PubMed ID
Source
Marine Pollution Bulletin
ISSN of the container
0025326X
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus