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Post COVID-19 pandemic: Biofragmentation and soil ecotoxicological effects of microplastics derived from face masks

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, used face masks have increasingly littered the environment and are causes for concern since they are commonly made of plastics such as polypropylene. Understanding production of microplastics from face masks is essential for predicting the post COVID-19 pandemic imp...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kwak, Jin Il, An, Youn-Joo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier B.V. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8139172/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34492945
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126169
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author Kwak, Jin Il
An, Youn-Joo
author_facet Kwak, Jin Il
An, Youn-Joo
author_sort Kwak, Jin Il
collection PubMed
description Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, used face masks have increasingly littered the environment and are causes for concern since they are commonly made of plastics such as polypropylene. Understanding production of microplastics from face masks is essential for predicting the post COVID-19 pandemic impact on the soil ecosystem. We investigated the generation of nanofibers from meltblown face mask filters (MB filters) and their adverse effects on soil species, particularly the earthworm and springtail. Results of MB filter soil bioassays at a high concentration (1000 mg/kg dry soil) suggest inhibited reproduction and stunted growth in springtails, decreased intracellular esterase activity in earthworm coelomocytes, and inhibited spermatogenesis in male earthworm reproductive tissues. Moreover, it was estimated that generation of nanofibers from microfibers and fragments of MB filters might occur in the soil ecosystem post COVID-19. This study does not oppose the use of face masks but aims to encourage appropriate disposal of the masks. Preservation of human health and the ecosystem should be prioritized even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
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spelling pubmed-81391722021-05-21 Post COVID-19 pandemic: Biofragmentation and soil ecotoxicological effects of microplastics derived from face masks Kwak, Jin Il An, Youn-Joo J Hazard Mater Article Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, used face masks have increasingly littered the environment and are causes for concern since they are commonly made of plastics such as polypropylene. Understanding production of microplastics from face masks is essential for predicting the post COVID-19 pandemic impact on the soil ecosystem. We investigated the generation of nanofibers from meltblown face mask filters (MB filters) and their adverse effects on soil species, particularly the earthworm and springtail. Results of MB filter soil bioassays at a high concentration (1000 mg/kg dry soil) suggest inhibited reproduction and stunted growth in springtails, decreased intracellular esterase activity in earthworm coelomocytes, and inhibited spermatogenesis in male earthworm reproductive tissues. Moreover, it was estimated that generation of nanofibers from microfibers and fragments of MB filters might occur in the soil ecosystem post COVID-19. This study does not oppose the use of face masks but aims to encourage appropriate disposal of the masks. Preservation of human health and the ecosystem should be prioritized even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Elsevier B.V. 2021-08-15 2021-05-21 /pmc/articles/PMC8139172/ /pubmed/34492945 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126169 Text en © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Since January 2020 Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre - including this research content - immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active.
spellingShingle Article
Kwak, Jin Il
An, Youn-Joo
Post COVID-19 pandemic: Biofragmentation and soil ecotoxicological effects of microplastics derived from face masks
title Post COVID-19 pandemic: Biofragmentation and soil ecotoxicological effects of microplastics derived from face masks
title_full Post COVID-19 pandemic: Biofragmentation and soil ecotoxicological effects of microplastics derived from face masks
title_fullStr Post COVID-19 pandemic: Biofragmentation and soil ecotoxicological effects of microplastics derived from face masks
title_full_unstemmed Post COVID-19 pandemic: Biofragmentation and soil ecotoxicological effects of microplastics derived from face masks
title_short Post COVID-19 pandemic: Biofragmentation and soil ecotoxicological effects of microplastics derived from face masks
title_sort post covid-19 pandemic: biofragmentation and soil ecotoxicological effects of microplastics derived from face masks
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8139172/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34492945
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126169
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