Face shield

Environmental pollution

2019-20 coronavirus outbreak

Engineering

Health care

Ecology

Biology

Pollution

Virology

Face masks

Pollutant

Personal protective equipment

Economics

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)

Risk analysis (engineering)

Outbreak

Business

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Waste management

Mechanical engineering

Organic chemistry

Plastic pollution

Microplastics

Environmental chemistry

Work (physics)

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Environmental science

Environmental protection

Medicine

Chemistry

Economic growth

Pandemic

Disease

Pathology

The Science of The Total Environment

The indispensable role of plastic products in our daily life is highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic again. Disposable face masks, made of polymer materials, as effective and cheap personal protective equipment (PPE), have been extensively used by the public to slow down the viral transmission. The repercussions of this have generated million tons of plastic waste being littered into the environment because of the improper disposal and mismanagement amid. And plastic waste can release microplastics (MPs) with the help of physical, chemical and biological processes, which is placing a huge MPs contamination burden on the ecosystem. In this work, the knowledge regarding to the combined effects of MPs and pollutants from the release of face masks and the impacts of wasted face masks and MPs on the environment (terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem) was systematically discussed. In view of these, some green technologies were put forward to reduce the amounts of discarded face masks in the environment, therefore minimizing MPs pollution at its source. Moreover, some recommendations for future research directions were proposed based on the remaining knowledge gaps. In a word, MPs pollution linked to face masks should be a focus worldwide.

Environmental risks of polymer materials from disposable face masks linked to the COVID-19 pandemic