PPE litter presenting dangers for wildlife
CENTRAL COAST, Calif.--(KION) A marine conservation group is finding more masks and personal protective equipment, also known as PPE, littered in and around beaches.
They're concerned animals might consume the PPE litter if it isn't disposed of properly, which could be dangerous for their health.
As the pandemic continues, beach goers are also noticing them popping up on the ground more and more.
“We see a lot of disposable masks on the beaches and around all the time,” said the Leider family who was visiting Monterey.
Santa Cruz-based non-profit Save Our Shores said the major places they see them are in grocery store parking lots and streets near beach access points.
Save Our Shores Executive Director Katherine O'Dea said they also find them on the beaches and in the dunes.
"People are just discarding their face masks either in the parking lot or some people leave them in the grocery cart,” O’Dea said. "The other place that we're finding them is on the streets where people park for access to the beach so they've either had their walk or play on the beach and they're coming back to the car and drop their mask on the ground."
From there, they can end up in the storm drains and travel out to the ocean.
Experts are concerned these items could break down into microplastics, which can block an animal’s digestive tract.
O'Dea said much like plastic bags, which look a lot like jellyfish to sea turtles, she fears some animals may consume PPE litter, like masks.
O'Dea said a lot more research is needed to know just how many animals are being impacted by this kind of litter.
“We don’t really know what the impact will be, so not knowing that, we need to be extremely careful to keep it out of our ocean,” O'Dea said.
If you'd like to help reduce your impact on the environment during the pandemic, you can buy re-useable masks.
Also, make sure your disposable masks end up in the trash because most are not recyclable.
If you do find a mask on the ground, O'Dea recommends wearing protective gloves or getting a trash picker and removing it properly.
