Face shield

Engineering

Health care

Ecology

Biology

Biomedical waste

Personal protective equipment

Economics

Risk analysis (engineering)

Environmental health

Business

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Waste management

Plastic pollution

Microplastics

Political science

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Environmental science

Medicine

Economic growth

Pandemic

Harm

Disease

Human health

Pathology

Environmental Chemistry Letters

During the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, protective equipment, such as masks, gloves and shields, has become mandatory to prevent person-to-person transmission of coronavirus. However, the excessive use and abandoned protective equipment is aggravating the world's growing plastic problem. Moreover, above protective equipment can eventually break down into microplastics and enter the environment. Here we review the threat of protective equipment associated plastic and microplastic wastes to environments, animals and human health, and reveal the protective equipment associated microplastic cycle. The major points are the following:1) COVID-19 protective equipment is the emerging source of plastic and microplastic wastes in the environment. 2) protective equipment associated plastic and microplastic wastes are polluting aquatic, terrestrial, and atmospheric environments. 3) Discarded protective equipment can harm animals by entrapment, entanglement and ingestion, and derived microplastics can also cause adverse implications on animals and human health. 4) We also provide several recommendations and future research priority for the sustainable environment. Therefore, much importance should be attached to potential protective equipment associated plastic and microplastic pollution to protect the environment, animals and humans.

Impact of waste of COVID-19 protective equipment on the environment, animals and human health: a review