Dr. Henry He’s study reveals poorly discarded surgical masks threaten marine ecosystem

(From left) Sun Jiaji, Dr Henry He Yuhe and Professor Kenneth Leung Mei-yee.

Surgical masks are heavily used for personal protection during the Covid-19 pandemic. Scientists estimate that the global demand for surgical masks reached 129 billion per month by 2020, while a total of 1.56 billion masks were inappropriately released into the oceans in 2020.

“Polypropylene is the main material widely used in surgical masks. It is a kind of commodity plastic that could fragment under the effects of heat, wind, ultraviolet radiation, and ocean currents, eventually forming microplastics,” said Dr Henry He Yuhe, Assistant Professor in the School of Energy and Environment (SEE) and a member of the State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution (SKLMP).

To figure out the extent and magnitude of this pollution issue and its potential impacts, Dr He and his team have investigated the release of microplastics from polypropylene surgical masks in seawater and evaluated the chronic toxicity of the microplastics on copepods (Tigriopus japonicus), a small marine crustacean.

Full story is available on CityU Featured News.