Conservationists have warned that the coronavirus pandemic could spark a surge in ocean pollution — adding to a glut of plastic waste that already threatens marine life — after finding disposable masks floating like jellyfish and waterlogged latex gloves scattered across seabeds.
The French non-profit Operation Mer Propre (Operation Clean Sea), whose activities include regularly picking up litter along the Cote d’Azur, began sounding the alarm late last month.
Divers had found what Joffrey Peltier of the organization described as “COVID waste” — dozens of gloves, masks and bottles of hand sanitizer beneath the waves of the Mediterranean, mixed in with the usual litter of disposable cups and aluminum cans.
Photo: AP 照片：美聯社
The quantities of masks and gloves found were far from enormous, said Peltier. But he worried that the discovery hinted at a new kind of pollution, one set to become ubiquitous after millions around the world turned to single-use plastics to combat the coronavirus. “It’s the promise of pollution to come if nothing is done,” said Peltier.
In France alone, authorities have ordered two billion disposable masks, said Laurent Lombard of Operation Mer Propre. “Knowing that soon we’ll run the risk of having more masks than jellyfish in the Mediterranean,” he wrote on social media alongside video of a dive showing algae-entangled masks and soiled gloves in the sea near Antibes.
The group hopes the images will prompt people to embrace reusable masks and swap latex gloves for more frequent handwashing. “With all the alternatives, plastic isn’t the solution to protect us from COVID-19. That’s the message,” said Peltier.
Photo: AFP 照片：法新社
In the years leading up to the pandemic, environmentalists had warned of the threat posed to oceans and marine life by skyrocketing plastic pollution. As much as 13 million metric tonnes of plastic goes into oceans each year, according to a 2018 estimate by UN Environment. The Mediterranean sees 570,000 metric tonnes of plastic flow into it annually — an amount the WWF has described as equal to dumping 33,800 plastic bottles every minute into the sea.
These figures risk growing substantially as countries around the world confront the coronavirus pandemic. Masks often contain plastics such as polypropylene, said Eric Pauget, a French politician whose region includes the Cote d’Azur .
“With a lifespan of 450 years, these masks are an ecological timebomb given their lasting environmental consequences for our planet,” he wrote last month in a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron, calling on him to do more to address the environmental consequences of disposable masks.
Photo: AFP 照片：法新社
Earlier this year the Hong Kong-based OceansAsia began voicing similar concerns, after a survey of marine debris in the city’s uninhabited Soko Islands turned up dozens of disposable masks.
“On a beach about 100m long, we found about 70,” said Gary Stokes of OceansAsia. One week later, another 30 masks had washed up. “And that’s on an uninhabited island in the middle of nowhere.”
Curious to see how far the masks had travelled, he began checking other nearby beaches. “We’re finding them everywhere,” he said. “Ever since society started wearing masks, the cause and effects are being seen on the beaches.”
Photo: AFP 照片：法新社
While some of the debris could be attributed to carelessness, he speculated that the lightweight masks were at times also being carried from land, boats and landfills by the wind.
“It’s just another item of marine debris,” he said, likening the masks to plastic bags or straws that often wash up on the city’s more remote shorelines. “It’s no better, no worse, just another item we’re leaving as a legacy to the next generation.”
Still, given the likelihood that porpoises and dolphins in the region could mistake a mask for food, he was bracing himself for a grim find.
“We’re constantly getting them washing up dead and we’re just waiting for a necropsy when we find a mask inside,” he said. “I think it’s inevitable.”
(The Guardian)
自然環境保育人士警告說，冠狀病毒大流行可能造成海洋污染激增──在海底發現像水母般漂浮的拋棄式口罩，以及充滿水的乳膠手套四處散布，讓已對海洋生物造成威脅的巨量塑膠垃圾問題雪上加霜。
定期在蔚藍海岸清理垃圾的法國非營利性組織「海洋清潔行動」，上月底開始發出以上警示。
該組織的喬費‧佩爾傑所說的「COVID垃圾」，被潛水員發現──地中海波濤之下，幾十個手套、口罩及乾洗手瓶罐，夾雜在常見的拋棄式杯子和鋁罐等垃圾之中。
佩爾傑表示，所發現的口罩及手套數量遠稱不上龐大。但他擔心，這個發現意味一種新的污染──在全球數百萬人開始使用拋棄式塑膠製品來對抗冠狀病毒後，這種污染將無所不在。佩爾傑說：「如果不採取任何措施，這鐵定將帶來污染」。
「海洋清潔行動」的羅宏‧隆巴表示，光是在法國，政府就訂購了二十億個拋棄式口罩。他在社群媒體貼出一段潛水拍攝的影片，顯示安提貝附近海域中被藻類纏繞的口罩及髒污的手套，並寫道：「我知道不久之後，我們可能面臨地中海裡的口罩比水母多的險境」。
該組織希望這些影像能促使人們改用可重複使用的口罩，並以更頻繁洗手來代替乳膠手套的使用。「塑膠並不是避免感染武漢肺炎的解決方案，我們還有很多別的選擇。這就是所傳達出的訊息」，佩爾傑說。
在疫情爆發前的幾年，環保人士便已提出警告，指出塑膠污染的暴增已對海洋及海洋生物造成威脅。根據聯合國環境署二○一八年的估計，每年有多達一千三百萬噸的塑膠進入海洋。地中海地區每年流入的塑膠量為五十七萬噸──相當於世界自然基金會所描述的，每分鐘向海裡傾倒三萬三千八百個塑膠瓶。
隨著世界各國面臨冠狀病毒大流行，這些數字有可能大大增加。選區包括蔚藍海岸的法國政界人士艾瑞克‧波杰表示，口罩通常含有塑膠，例如聚丙烯。
波杰在上月致法國總統艾曼紐‧馬克宏的信中寫道：「這些口罩的壽命為四百五十年，是生態炸彈，因其對地球環境會造成長久的影響」。他呼籲馬克宏採取更多作為，來處理拋棄式口罩的環境衝擊。
今年稍早，總部位於香港的「海洋亞洲」對無人居的香港索罟群島進行海洋垃圾調查，在發現了幾十個拋棄式口罩後，開始表達像這樣的擔憂。
「海洋亞洲」的蓋瑞‧史托克斯說：「在長約一百公尺的海灘上，我們發現了大約七十個口罩」。一週後，又發現三十個口罩被沖刷上岸。「而且那是茫茫大海中的一個無人島」。
他很好奇口罩究竟漂流了多遠，便開始檢視附近其他海灘。他說：「我們到處都可以找到口罩」。「自從大家開始戴口罩以來，這因果關係在海灘上就可以看得到」。
雖然一些垃圾可能是因為亂丟而造成的，但因口罩的重量很輕，他推測它們有時也會被風從陸地、船上及垃圾掩埋場中吹過來。
他說：「這只是另一種海洋垃圾」，口罩跟塑膠袋或吸管一樣，常在香港較偏僻的海岸被沖刷上來。「口罩也沒什麼不同，只不過是另一樣我們遺留給下一代的東西」。
儘管如此，因附近的小鯨與海豚可能會誤將口罩當做食物，他已有心理準備會發現殘酷的事。
他說：「我們不斷讓牠們死亡，然後被沖上岸，我們遲早會在解剖時，發現牠們體內有口罩」。 「我認為這一定會發生」。
(台北時報林俐凱編譯)
FOLLOW UP 讀後練習
Questions
1. What does the non-governmental organization Operation Mer Propre suggest we do to reduce the use of masks and plastic gloves?
2. What are the reasons why masks, straws and plastic bags might end up on beaches?
3. How can these types of litter threaten marine life?
4. What measures would you suggest the authorities take to protect people from COVID-19 as well as to deal with waste from PPE (personal protective equipment)?
(Lin Lee-kai, Taipei Times)
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