Oh, the Sweet Irony Take 2 … World Drowning Under Covid-Related Plastics! By James Reed
Here is my second Covid irony for the day. The Plandemic and manic conspiratorial desire to vaccinate everything that moves on the planet, is generating masses of waste plastic that is endangering cuddy politically correct sea creatures. Not to worry, I expect the ultra-intelligent dolphins, beloved of the New Age, who feature them in rainbow posters, will simply start wearing masks to, to deal with aquatic Covid, which must surely exist, or soon will!
https://www.naturalnews.com/2021-11-12-study-reveals-covid-related-plastics-pollute-oceans.html
“A recent study published in the journal PNAS calculated for the first time how much waste in the form of single-use personal protective equipment (PPE) ended up in the oceans since the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic began in 2020.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has led to an increased demand for single-use plastics that intensifies pressure on an already out-of-control global plastic waste problem,” study co-authors Yiming Peng and Peipei Wu from Nanjing University said. “The released plastics can be transported over long distances in the ocean, encounter marine wildlife, and potentially lead to injury or even death.”
The Nanjing University and University of California San Diego (UC San Diego)-led research team looked at the amount of waste generated between the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 and August 2021. The researchers found that 193 countries generated over 9.3 million tons of COVID-specific plastic wastes, 28,550 tons of which ended up in the world’s oceans. These numbers were based on a model that calculated how the pandemic could impact the amount of plastic released into the ocean and where it would go from there.
Study co-author Yanxu Zhang said in a press release that the model simulates how the seawater moves when driven by wind and how the plastics float on the surface of the ocean, degraded by sunlight and fouled by the plankton, land on beaches or sink to the deep. “It can be used to answer ‘what if’ questions, for example, what will happen if we add a certain amount of plastics to the ocean?” (Related: Face masks are adding to plastic pollution, and its effects are seen across Asia.)
The researchers found that within three to four years, a large portion of the pollution will end up either on beaches or the seabed, while a smaller amount will reach the open ocean, where it will eventually end up in gyres or a plastic accumulation zone in the Arctic.
The study also looked at the main sources of the waste regionally: 46 percent came from Asia, 24 percent from Europe and 22 percent from the Americas.
Increased demand for single-use plastics highlights need for better collection systems
Interestingly, the researchers found that the bulk of the waste did not come from individual use of PPE, which only accounted for 7.6 percent of the total. Instead, the bulk of the waste – 87.4 percent – came from hospitals.
Study co-author, Amina Schartup from UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, said they were surprised to find that the amount of medical waste was substantially larger from hospitals than from individuals and that a lot was coming from Asian countries.
“The biggest sources of excess waste were hospitals in areas already struggling with waste management before the pandemic. They just weren’t set up to handle a situation where you have more waste,” she said.
The study highlighted the increased demand for single-use plastic, which intensified the pressure of this already severe problem. However, the findings highlight further the hotspot rivers and watersheds that require special attention when it comes to waste management.
“We find a long-lasting impact of the pandemic-associated waste release in the global ocean. At the end of this century, the model suggests that almost all the pandemic-associated plastics end up in either the seabed (28.8%) or beaches (70.5%),” the researchers said.
The need for better systems for collecting, treating and disposing of medical plastic waste in developing countries is particularly important to ensure that it is being kept out of rivers. An overall need to limit the use of single-use plastics is necessary, while an increase in the use of sustainable alternatives should be applied where possible.”
https://www.livescience.com/plastic-pandemic-waste-clogs-oceans
“Plastic waste from the Covid-19 pandemic weighing 25,900 tonnes, equivalent to more than 2,000 double decker buses, has leaked into the ocean, research has revealed.
The mismanaged plastic waste, consisting of personal protective equipment such as masks and gloves, vastly exceeded the capability of countries to process it properly, researchers said.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, an estimated 8.4m tonnes of plastic waste has been generated from 193 countries, according to the report, published on Monday.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has led to an increased demand for single-use plastics that intensifies pressure on an already out-of-control global plastic waste problem,” said Yiming Peng and Peipei Wu from Nanjing University, the authors of Magnitude and impact of pandemic-associated plastic waste published in the online journal PNAS.
“The released plastics can be transported over long distances in the ocean, encounter marine wildlife, and potentially lead to injury or even death,” they added.
A study in March presented the first case of a fish entrapped in a medical glove, encountered during a canal cleanup in Leiden, the Netherlands. In Brazil a PFF-2 protective mask was found in the stomach of a dead Magellanic penguin.
The scientists predicted that by the end of the century almost all pandemic-associated plastics will end up on either the seabed or on beaches.
The Chinese study found that 46% of the mismanaged plastic waste came from Asia, due to the high level of mask-wearing by individuals there, followed by Europe, 24%, and North and South America, 22%.
Peng and Wu said their research suggested 87.4% of the excess waste was from hospitals, rather than from individual use. PPE usage by individuals contributed only 7.6% of the total, while packaging and test kits accounted for 4.7% and 0.3% respectively.
“Most of the plastic is from medical waste generated by hospitals that dwarfs the contribution from personal protection equipment and online-shopping package material,” they wrote.
“This poses a long-lasting problem for the ocean environment and is mainly accumulated on beaches and coastal sediments.”
The thousands of tonnes of masks, gloves, testing kits and face visors which leached into the oceans from the start of the pandemic up to August this year, were transported in 369 major rivers.
Chief among these were Shatt al-Arab in south-eastern Iraq, which carried 5,200 tonnes of PPE waste to the ocean; the Indus river, which arises in western Tibet, carried 4,000 tonnes and the Yangtze river in China 3,700 tonnes. In Europe, the Danube carried the most plastic pandemic waste into the ocean: 1,700 tonnes.
The top 10 rivers accounted for 79% of pandemic plastic discharge, the top 20 for 91%, and the top 100 for 99%. About 73% of the discharge was from Asian rivers followed by European watercourses (11%), with minor contributions from other continents, the report said.
“These findings highlight the hotspot rivers and watersheds that require special attention in plastic waste management,” the authors said.
“We find a long-lasting impact of the pandemic-associated waste release in the global ocean. At the end of this century, the model suggests that almost all the pandemic-associated plastics end up in either the seabed (28.8%) or beaches (70.5%).”
The authors said the findings showed better medical waste management was needed in pandemic epicenters, especially in developing countries.”
https://www.pnas.org/content/118/47/e2111530118
“Plastic waste causes harm to marine life and has become a major global environmental concern. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increased demand for single-use plastic, intensifying pressure on this already out-of-control problem. This work shows that more than eight million tons of pandemic-associated plastic waste have been generated globally, with more than 25,000 tons entering the global ocean. Most of the plastic is from medical waste generated by hospitals that dwarfs the contribution from personal protection equipment and online-shopping package material. This poses a long-lasting problem for the ocean environment and is mainly accumulated on beaches and coastal sediments. We call for better medical waste management in pandemic epicenters, especially in developing countries.”
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