Action News Jax Investigates: PPE pollution from Coronavirus

Jacksonville Beach, Fla. — Action News Jax investigates a new kind of pollution on our local streets and shores because of the Coronavirus.

Personal protective equipment like gloves and masks save human lives, but it’s putting some marine life in danger all across Florida and the world.

“You can’t just throw these things on the ground, they are not bio-degradable,” says Maria Fann with First Coast Surf Rider, a group dedicated to protecting local beaches from pollution, including PPE like masks and gloves.

Fann found a number of discarded masks and gloves in Jacksonville Beach.

According to a published study, the monthly use of (PPE) has swelled around the world to an estimated 129 billion face masks and 65 billion gloves because of the Coronavirus and all of it needs someplace to go if not thrown away in a trash can.

According to the EPA, any kind of litter dumped on the ground like trash or PPE’s like masks and gloves, has the potential to end up going through storm drains and into the nearest body of water like a lake, river, or ocean.

“Using something reusable is always a better call,” says Dr. Mohammed Reza who is an infectious disease specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. He says although the gloves and masks are covered in bacteria they don’t likely pose a risk when it comes to the Coronavirus.

“It’s unlikely the virus would stay stable for a long period of time especially outside in sun or water,” says Reza.

Fann says the pandemic has also eliminated beach clean-ups which normally collect hundreds of pounds worth of trash.

“There’s always a garbage receptacle outside a grocery store and any kind of store in a shopping center,” advises Fann.

Cox Media Group