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Abandoned disposable masks become hot substrates for plastisphere, whether in soil, atmosphere or water
Summary
Disposable surgical masks tossed outdoors don't just break down, they become homes for microorganisms, including potentially harmful bacteria, and this happens fastest in water, followed by air, then soil. As these masks age and crack apart in the environment, they can carry and spread germs (and eventually microplastics) into waterways, soil, and air, which is worth knowing given how many masks were discarded during the pandemic.
A large number of surgical masks (SMs) to be discarded indiscriminately during the spread of COVID-19. The relationship between the changes of masks entering the environment and the succession of the microorganisms on them is not yet clear. The natural aging process of SMs in different environments (water, soil, and atmosphere) was simulated, the changes and succession of the microbial community on SMs with aging time were explored. The results showed that the SMs in water environment had the highest aging degree, followed by atmospheric environment, and SMs in soil had the lowest aging degree. The results of high-throughput sequencing demonstrated the load capacity of SMs for microorganisms, showed the important role of environment in determining microbial species on SMs. According to the relative abundance of microorganisms, it is found that compared with the water environment, the microbial community on SMs in water is dominated by rare species. While in soil, in addition to rare species, there are a lot of swinging strains on the SMs. Uncovering the ageing of SMs in the environment and its association with the colonization of microorganisms will help us understand the potential of microorganisms, especially pathogenic bacteria, to survive and migrate on SMs.