PPE pollution an ongoing issue for the Central Coast

CENTRAL COAST, Calif. (KION) It's not uncommon while hiking a trail or walking a beach to find a disposable mask lying around. Environmentalists say, although it's good to protect ourselves from COVID-19 with all the personal protective equipment available, there's some concern about some of those items being left behind. Items that could possibly cause harm to our Monterey Bay and its marine life.

The Executive Director of Save Our Shores says they haven't seen a significant increase in sightings of scattered PPE waste, but there's some reasoning as to how things like masks and gloves end up littered around. Sometimes loose masks and gloves drop while fumbling through a pocket or purse.

Katherine O'Dea, Executive Director of Save Our Shores, "I think early on people were discarding them because they didn’t want to touch trash cans or touch anything.

Regardless, like any trash that ends up in the water, it will start to decompose to some extent. O'Dea, "As the pieces get smaller that's when we see everything from plankton to whales scooping up these micro-plastics. It goes into their bellies and it sits there and causes considerable complications including starvation."

If too much plastic is consumed by marine life, experts say it can be fatal to animals in the ocean. For instance, masks that balloon out can almost look like a delectable jellyfish to sea turtles. But experts say PPE waste is just one piece of a bigger pollution problem, with syringes and fishing gear also being littered without regard for healthy ocean life.

O'Dea says, "Our ocean and our climate are the two most important interrelated systems that allow life on Earth."
When you discard a mask, also remember they’re not recyclable so don’t put them into a recycle bin.