COVID-19. The disease has nearly forced the world to a full stop. Cities have emptied, traffic has halted, schools have closed. Beyond causing a serious respiratory illness, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has brought a new, and largely overlooked, threat to human health: more potentially harmful microplastics in the environment, this time from discarded personal protective equipment (PPE). PPE used to fight COVID-19 becomes plastic waste after its use, adding to the immense worldwide problem of plastic pollution, according to a 2020 World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Italy study. That plastic "invades our streets, our sidewalks and our parks," states the report. Researchers at Italy's Polytechnic of Turin estimated that in Phase 2 of the country's COVID-19 reopening (in which activities are gradually restarted), 1 billion masks and half a billion disposable gloves each month were needed. "These are very high quantities that require those who use them to assume responsibility for their disposal," according to WWF Italy documents. "Each of us must make an effort to ensure that we proceed with the least possible impact on nature."
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