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ince The first case of Covid-19 identified in Wuhan, China and presented as such by the World Health Organization was actually days later than previously believed and at an animal market, a top scientist said in the journal Science
“The past was that linear system – catch the water in a dam, send it to a drinking water treatment plant, it goes to a tap and is used in the home, then it’s back into the sewerage system, a wastewater treatment plant and a river or the ocean.”
It’s a revolting cocktail that can typically include underpants, plastic, wet wipes, ear buds, dental floss, cigarette butts, tampons, condoms, sewage and grey water from countless kitchens, bathrooms and laundries.
Researchers have used models to determine that, as of late August, 193 countries collectively produced more than 8 million tons of pandemic-related plastic waste, ranging from masks and hospital equipment to packaging from online shopping generated by increased interest in no-contact purchases.
Although personal protective equipment, like N95 masks and face shields, contributed to the single-use plastics now scattered around the seas, the team says that the bulk of the material — 73% — consists of disposable medical tools. They also conclude that 72% of the plastic waste comes from Asia.
The effects of trash in the ocean could be even more widespread. The authors of the new paper say that over a three-year period, domaintest.com the pandemic-generated waste will likely start washing ashore, accumulating on beaches and piling up in coastal sediments, ultimately threatening land-based species, too. If the waste degrades into microplastics, it could also enter the food chain and eventually reach humans.
rsday. Rather than the original patient being a man who had never been to the Wuhan market where wild and domestic animals were sold, the first known case of Covid-19 turns out to have been a woman who had worked in the market, virologist Michael Woro
“The released plastics can be transported over long distances in the ocean, encounter marine wildlife, and potentially lead to injury or even death,” a team of climate experts, hailing from China’s Nanjing University and from the University of California, San Diego, wrote in the paper.
mic” One criticism of the market theory was that because health authorities raised the alert about cases of a suspicious disease linked to the market as early as December 30, 2019, that would have introduced a bias that led to the identification of more cases there than elsewhere, since attention had already been dr
Trash from human activities has already created what’s known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an amalgam of everything from plastic bottles to fishing gear spread over an estimated 1.6 million square kilometers.
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