Employed Covid-19 masks, gloves choking Europe's rivers
Europe's key rivers are full of surgical masks and medical gloves discarded by persons protecting themselves against coronavirus, scientists have reported.
The rubbish increases plastic pollution already clogging the continent's significant waterways, research organisation Tara Sea Foundation told France Inter radio on Sunday.
Through the month of June, researchers "systematically determined gloves and masks" along the banking institutions and beaches of rivers around Europe explained Romy Hentinger, head of international cooperation by the foundation.
"That is worrying," she said. "We can only believe that others (masks and gloves) have previously managed to get to the ocean."
The disposable protective gear is manufactured from polypropylene and will thus disintegrate quickly in the ocean, which makes it almost impossible to recover, she added.
The Tara Basis recently concluded a scientific survey of nine major rivers - the Elbe, Rhine, Seine, Rhone, Garonne, Loire, Tiber, Thames and Ebro - to measure concentrations of microplastics.
The expedition from Might to Nov 2019 found them in 100 per cent of the water samples they collected, showing that particles had already divided before being completed to the sea.
"We're ready for the final results from our researchers," said Hentinger.
Contrary to that which was once thought, bits of plastic in sea water aren't broken down by UV rays and salt.
Around eight million tonnes of plastic conclude in the world's oceans each year. - AFP
