AN ENVIRONMENTAL organization has appealed to public to dispose properly used disposable face masks and other sanitary items amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (Idis) Executive Director Chinkie Peliño-Golle said in an online interview on Monday, March 16, that used masks and tissues, and other sanitary items should be properly disposed not only to prevent the virus from further spreading, but also to protect the environment.
"Lisod kung contaminated ang mogamit kay mo-contaminate pud sa environment (If you are contaminated, you will contaminate the environment too)," Peliño-Golle said.
She also called on environment agencies, such as Department of Environment and Natural Resources through the Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB), and City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro), to manage the proper disposal of these wastes.
Peliño-Golle suggested the usage of reusable masks like cloth mask since it is washable and will not pile up the garbage, although she is not discouraging the use of surgical masks since according to some health experts, it is more effective than the washable masks.
Currently, they are not able to monitor the proper disposal since they are abiding by the call of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio to conduct self-quarantine following the declaration of the state of public health emergency in the country.
EcoWaste Coalition Zero Waste campaigner Jove Benosa reiterated the call of the Department of Health (DOH) that it is unnecessary to wear masks while going to the public.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque earlier said that the “use of surgical face masks is only recommended for persons caring for the sick, persons with respiratory infection/symptoms, and for healthcare and other frontline workers.”
Benosa said the World Health Organization (WHO) has already stated the use of mask alone is insufficient to provide adequate level of protection and other equally relevant measures should be adopted.
“Even though people in good health need not wear face masks, the demand for single-use masks has markedly risen with the spread of Covid-19,” Benosa said in a forwarded statement.
“These masks, which are not meant to be recycled or reused for health and safety reasons, are subsequently disposed of and may end up as street or marine litter,” he added.
The group said people should safely dispose used face masks, as improper disposal of these may contaminate the surroundings with germs that can make people sick.
Benosa said the virus can live on surfaces for a number of days, adding that discarded masks may become a potential source of infection.
He cited a new study published in the March 2020 issue of The Journal of Hospital Infection saying that “human coronaviruses can remain infectious on inanimate surfaces for up to nine days.”
He also said the arbitrary disposal of used masks may end up polluting water bodies and harming marine life.
“Like the ubiquitous single-use plastic bags in the oceans, discarded masks may be mistaken as food by aquatic creatures, blocking their digestive tracts and affecting their growth, reproduction and survival,” Benosa said.
Inappropriate disposal of used face masks, he said, may also lead to irresponsible recycling and reusing of such masks.
He also cited a study by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies in the US, that “disposable masks and respirators do not lend themselves to reuse because they work by trapping harmful particles inside the mesh of fibers of which they are made.”
“This hazardous buildup cannot be cleaned or disinfected without damaging the fibers or other components of the device such as the straps or nose clip,” the study said.
Benosa said the EcoWaste Coalition asked the country's health authorities to craft specific guidelines on the proper disposal of face masks amid the coronavirus crisis.