The GIST on PPE Pollution in Our Environment: A Feature on Silva et al. 2020 and Singh et al. 2020

Infographic Courtesy of Silva et al. 2020.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks, gloves, goggles, gowns, and aprons are essential items to help protect individuals from exposure to pathogens and contaminants. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, health care workers rely on PPE to protect against Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), making it essential to stopping the spread from sick patients to health care workers to the outside world they interact with. This does not include all of the PPE needed for mass testing too.

The immense need for disposable, sanitary PPE has formed a rapid accumulation of potentially infectious material in domestic solid waste streams. Silva et al. 2020, Singh et al. 2020, and many other papers and reviews have demonstrated that while PPE is necessary for the pandemic, the disposable nature of such products and the poor management of them have created a big problem for the environment. Silva et al. 2020 and others acknowledge the urgent need for a reassessment of the world’s fundamental goals and priorities without neglecting consequences on economies and societies. This pandemic is a big deal, and we need to do everything we can to protect each other. Everyone needs to wear a mask. Doctors and nurses need to help their patients, and stay healthy to help the next.

However, this paper emphasizes that, “it cannot be ignored that enormous amounts of plastic waste (including medical waste) are being generated at a global scale, with the majority being landfilled or incinerated (which are less favorable with higher negative environmental impacts) and minor fraction being recycled.” In short, human health is reliant on the health of our environment. And manufacturing, use of, and dumping all this plastic waste will indirectly cause dramatic backlash in the future.

Some negative impacts outlined in Silva et al. 2020’s review include: 

• Decreased indoor air quality

• Increased medical waste

• Decline in waste recycling with increase in incineration and landfilling

• Increased disinfection routines with hazardous chemical substances in household and outdoor environments

• Increased ecological risk to natural ecosystems due to the use of disinfectants

As the authors conclude, “continuing thinking on ‘today’ instead of ‘today in prole of a sustainable future,’ there will not exist a future.”

Basically, none of this sounds good, right? Not for our environment, not for our own health. And in the midst of a global pandemic, health needs to be prioritized. But how do we prioritize immediate spread and human health without single-use PPE? The solution to how we can prevent these negative effects is not entirely clear. 

However, I believe we can partly solve this problem not by eliminating the “single-use” aspect, but by investing in research and development for new PPE materials with plastic alternatives or reduction of waste. Silva et al. 2020 states that developing bioplastics for safe and effective distribution to incorporate into single-use PPE may help in reducing waste generation.

Most importantly, it calls for improved strategies for safe and sustainable management of used PPE with policy guidance. “Governors should seek to implement a more efficient plastic waste management system for plastic waste recovery,” they claim. “Accompanied by restrict[ion] laws and regulation for production, use, and consumption of plastic products (including incentives for recycling and redesigning).” Not only should political intervention be key to reducing plastic waste in PPE, but politicians need to be making reductions in plastic in other areas of consumption as well to balance out the use of plastic in the medical field.

One thing the review did not mention is the need for global intervention and collaboration, for COVID creates many setbacks for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One article that did cover global impacts of COVID pollution was Singh et al. 2020.

Singh et al. 2020 demonstrates that “the COVID-19 pandemic has strained solid waste management globally, while also highlighting the bottleneck supply chain challenges regarding PPE manufacture, demand-supply, use, and disposal.” Not only is it our responsibility as consumers to make sure to dispose of our protection gear properly, but it is also domestic and global governments' responsibility to create systems that manage high influxes of waste effectively. PPE is in “high demand” and will not go away as long as the pandemic continues.

Although, by effectively managing waste systems, by understanding the need for sustainable single-use PPE, and by supporting research and development of used PPE collection, sorting, and recycling,  everyone can benefit. The people’s health, the environment—even the economy and “public-private partnerships (PPPs)”.

Okay, I know this seems dismal. So many solutions for so many problems. But, there is hope. Silva et al. 2020 also points out the significant environmental benefits studies have demonstrated the pandemic has led to:

• Increased outdoor air quality

• Decreased pollution noise

• Decreased household food waste

• Decrease energy consumption and GHG emissions

• Global decrease on wildlife trade

• Decrease on deforestation

• Increase in surface water quality

So, there is a light at the end of the tunnel! While many have lost their jobs, livelihoods, family members and friends, etc., some aspects of the environment have actually been helped. Let’s celebrate these little victories, and I hope we can come out stronger!

However, we should not turn a blind eye. If anything, the pandemic has exposed and highlighted a lot of issues, both environmentally and socially. It's our job to take what we learn from this and fight for a better and brighter future. One that protects all people of all races, genders, ethnicities, sexualities, socioeconomic backgrounds, etc.—and the earth we share together.

Links:

Silva et al. 2020: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1385894720328114

Singh et al. 2020: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.0c03022