PPE into the Sea!

This environmental business is a bit like the game Whack a Mole. As you get rid one one problem, another pops up somewhere else. It is now reported that Personal Protective Equipment (single use face-masks and rubber gloves), needed for dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, is finishing up in our oceans (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/08/more-masks-than-jellyfish-coronavirus-waste-ends-up-in-ocean). This is occurring  just at a time when it had looked that popular demand was likely to reduce the amount of plastic waste going into our seas. Strikingly, it seems that face-masks are now more common than jellyfish on the beaches. One can only think that reduced surveillance, provides more opportunities for dumping and that the people who do it are totally unconcerned about any potential health issues.