Risks of Covid-19 face masks to wildlife: Present and future research needs

The use of disposable face masks became essential to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in an unprecedented rise in their production and, unfortunately, to a new form of environmental contamination due to improper disposal. Recent publications reported the abundance of COVID-19-related l...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Patrício Silva, Ana L., Prata, Joana C., Mouneyrac, Catherine, Barceló, Damià, Duarte, Armando C., Rocha-Santos, Teresa
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Recursos:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/245045
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/245045
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Disposable masks
Microplastics
Animal health
Ecotoxicity
Physiology
Descrição
Resumo:The use of disposable face masks became essential to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in an unprecedented rise in their production and, unfortunately, to a new form of environmental contamination due to improper disposal. Recent publications reported the abundance of COVID-19-related litter in several environments, wildlife interaction with such items, and the contaminants that can be released from such protective equipment that has the potential to induce ecotoxicological effects. This paper provides a critical review of COVID-19 face mask occurrence in diverse environments and their adverse physiological and ecotoxicological effects on wildlife. It also outlines potential remediation strategies to mitigate the environmental challenge impose by COVID-19-related litter.