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Pandemic mask mountain sets new recycling challenge

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By Isabel Malsang, Eleonore Sens and Andrew Leeson

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Millions of used masks will end up in the oceans around the world, under the right conditions the bacteria and viruses they contain will be able to mutate into newer, hardier strains, ensuring a never-ending struggle for survival of the human race.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

under the right conditions the bacteria and viruses they contain will be able to mutate into newer, hardier strains, ensuring a never-ending struggle for survival of the human race.

That is a fantasy-based danger, viruses require host cells to even reproduce, not a chance of mutation to happen without it. In a mask they are stopped in time quickly degrading and becoming inert by the second. Bacteria contained in masks are even less relevant, the plumbing in a regular house deliver more bacteria to the ocean than any quantity of masks could. The real danger comes from their presence as plastic pollution.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Wear re-usable ones.

Discarded masks are now a common site on UK streets, alongside the rest of the litter. Something new for the rats and feral cats to explore.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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