One: there is a danger of suffocation. Since the epidemic of new crown pneumonia, masks have become indispensable protective equipment for people. With the increasing demand for masks, discarded masks have also increased rapidly. Some abandoned masks have now invaded the habitats of wild animals, which have had a bad impact on wild animals and the environment. In chelmsford, England, a seagull was found wrapped around the strap of an abandoned mask and could not move for a week. Only with the help of rescuers can seagulls get out of trouble successfully. In the mountains outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, you can often see macaques biting discarded old masks. For this thin monkey, biting the mask may lead to the danger of suffocation, and once eaten by mistake, it will also cause digestive tract diseases. It can be seen that throwing away masks at will is not only unsanitary, but also harmful to wild animals. Therefore, it is necessary to set up a unified mask recycling point for centralized destruction.
Second, different kinds of garbage have different recycling and treatment methods. The masks we wear daily can be treated as general domestic garbage, but some masks worn by infected patients cannot be treated as general domestic garbage, just like the mask garbage discarded by hospitals and wards, they should be recycled as medical garbage and then treated in a closed loop. Although the masks used by most people in daily life are directly discarded as domestic garbage, experts remind that it is best to set up a unified mask recycling point for centralized destruction. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the disinfection of delivery and collection facilities.
Third, the impact of abandoned masks on the environment. The mask we wear every day is generally composed of three parts: mask, ear line and nose bridge. These three parts are made of polypropylene and belong to non-degradable plastics. Although the mask looks thin, it may take hundreds of years for nature to degrade a mask. Plastic waste that is difficult to degrade like discarded masks will cause deeper problems when it enters the natural environment. If these discarded masks invade the ocean, it will bring unprecedented threats to the creatures in the ocean, and these marine creatures may eventually become delicious on the human table, so that human beings are likely to be infected again.
In daily life, don't throw away the mask at will, otherwise it will threaten human beings themselves, so take the mask right and throw it in the right place.