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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Plastics in the Pandemic
ClearPlastic and its consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic
Researchers examined the dual role of plastic during the COVID-19 pandemic — as life-saving material in medical and personal protective equipment and as an environmental pollutant when improperly discarded — highlighting how pandemic-driven plastic use worsened water body contamination and public health risks.
A creeping crisis when an urgent crisis arises: The reprioritization of plastic pollution issues during COVID‐19
This study examined how the COVID-19 pandemic led governments and industry to deprioritize single-use plastic reduction policies in favor of hygiene and health concerns. Policy analysis showed that the pandemic was used as justification to reverse plastic reduction commitments and increase single-use plastic consumption.
Environmental Choices Vs. COVID-19 Pandemic Fear – Plastic Governance Re-assessment
A plastic governance study conducted before COVID-19 found strong public support for phasing out single-use plastics, but the pandemic shifted perceptions, with health safety concerns making consumers demand more single-use plastic products. The authors call for re-evaluation of plastic governance strategies to accommodate the changed value hierarchies that emerged during the health crisis.
Food packaging during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Consumer perceptions
Researchers surveyed Canadian consumers about their attitudes toward plastic food packaging during the COVID-19 pandemic and found a complex picture: while environmental concerns persisted, the pandemic increased perceived need for single-use plastic packaging due to hygiene concerns, temporarily reversing pre-pandemic trends toward reduction.
"Malaysian and Libyan Perspectives on Single-Use Plastic's Environmental Impact During the Pandemic COVID-19: A Pilot Study"
Not directly relevant to microplastics — this pilot study surveys Malaysian and Libyan perspectives on the environmental impact of single-use plastics during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on attitudes and questionnaire validation rather than microplastic contamination research.
COVID‐19: An Accelerator for Global Plastic Consumption and Its Implications
This review examined how the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated global plastic consumption through increased medical waste and single-use plastics, analyzing the environmental implications and challenges for waste management systems worldwide.
The plastic pandemic: COVID-19 has accelerated plastic pollution, but there is a cure
This study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the global plastic pollution crisis through massively increased use of single-use protective equipment like masks and gloves. Researchers review the environmental consequences and propose solutions including improved waste management, biodegradable alternatives, and policy changes to curb plastic pollution going forward.
Public Awareness Of Plastic Pollution And Perceived Risks To Human Health.
This study aims to assess public awareness of plastic pollution and its health impacts by surveying urban and semi-urban communities about their plastic use habits and self-reported health outcomes. Researchers plan to compare families using plastic food-contact materials with those using non-plastic alternatives to identify gaps in awareness and potential health differences linked to everyday plastic exposure.
Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on single-use of plastics in some American Firms: Policy Insights
Researchers examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on corporate waste management programs across 42 American firms in Detroit, Atlanta, and Houston, finding significant changes in single-use plastic consumption patterns. The study provided policy insights on how pandemic conditions shifted corporate waste reduction, reuse, recycling, and recovery practices.
Microplastics as potential source for environmental pollution: An updated review on Indian scenario Post Covid -19
This review examines the status of microplastic pollution in India following the COVID-19 pandemic, during which accelerated plastic production for personal protective equipment and medical supplies intensified microplastic inputs to the environment. Researchers synthesized available data on microplastic contamination across Indian environmental compartments, identifying knowledge gaps and regulatory challenges specific to the post-pandemic Indian context.
Understanding of environmental pollution and its anthropogenic impacts on biological resources during the COVID-19 period
Researchers reviewed how the COVID-19 pandemic intensified plastic pollution across terrestrial, marine, and atmospheric environments by driving surges in single-use plastics and inadequately managed medical waste, with plastic-related contamination projected to pose escalating transboundary risks through 2030 and beyond.
Microplastic pollution and associated health hazards: Impact of COVID-19 pandemic
This review explores how the COVID-19 pandemic led to a surge in single-use plastic waste from masks, gloves, and packaging, increasing microplastic pollution in the environment. Microplastics from this waste can enter land, air, and water, ultimately accumulating in the human body. The study highlights the need for better plastic waste detection, recycling, and management to reduce health risks from pandemic-driven microplastic contamination.
Pros and Cons of Plastic during the COVID-19 Pandemic
This review examined the dual role of plastics during COVID-19, acknowledging their critical function in medical devices and PPE while documenting the surge in plastic pollution from improper disposal of single-use items — and debating the net societal and environmental cost-benefit trade-off.
From outbreak of COVID-19 to launching of vaccination drive: invigorating single-use plastics, mitigation strategies, and way forward
Researchers review how the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent vaccination rollout dramatically increased single-use plastic consumption through PPE, medical devices, and e-commerce packaging, and recommend a stepwise management approach combining segregation, sterilization, technological innovation, and transition to biodegradable material alternatives.
Examinando la demanda de plásticos durante la pandemia: Un enfoque factorial
This Ecuadorian study examined how plastic consumption changed during the COVID-19 pandemic in households. Pandemic-related increases in single-use plastic demand — from protective equipment, takeout packaging, and online shopping — contributed to a spike in plastic waste with long-term environmental consequences.
Plastic Waste and Sustainability: Reflections and Impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic in the Socio-Cultural and Environmental Context
This systematic literature review examined the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on plastic waste generation and management, finding through analysis of 22 studies that the pandemic increased PPE and microplastic pollution in coastal environments and shifted consumption patterns toward increased packaging waste from e-commerce, raising concerns about long-term socio-environmental consequences.
Microplastics as potential source for environmental pollution: An updated review on Indian scenario Post Covid -19
This review synthesizes evidence on microplastic occurrence, sources, fate, and toxicological implications in Indian environments, with particular attention to the intensification of plastic pollution during and after the COVID-19 pandemic driven by massive use of facemasks, face shields, and PPE. The authors identify five key research gaps including quantification, multi-media distribution, human toxicology, pandemic-era disposal, and governance challenges, and call for coordinated action among researchers, educators, and policymakers.
Microplastics as potential source for environmental pollution: An updated review on Indian scenario Post Covid -19
This review synthesizes evidence on microplastic occurrence, sources, fate, and toxicological implications in Indian environments, with particular attention to the intensification of plastic pollution during and after the COVID-19 pandemic driven by massive use of facemasks, face shields, and PPE. The authors identify five key research gaps including quantification, multi-media distribution, human toxicology, pandemic-era disposal, and governance challenges, and call for coordinated action among researchers, educators, and policymakers.
The COVID-19 pandemic reshapes the plastic pollution research – A comparative analysis of plastic pollution research before and during the pandemic
This comparative bibliometric analysis found that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly reshaped plastic pollution research, driving increased focus on single-use plastics from personal protective equipment and medical waste while temporarily shifting attention away from traditional environmental microplastic topics.
The COVID-19 pandemic necessitates a shift to a plastic circular economy
Researchers argue that the COVID-19 pandemic's surge in single-use plastic demand exposes deep flaws in linear plastic waste management, calling for coordinated action by governments, industry, and researchers to shift toward circular economy principles including intelligent design and sustainable upcycling of plastics.
Novel Covid-19: The Surge in Plastics (Known-Unknowns), Its Impacts on Public and Environmental Health and The Way Forward
This paper examined how the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically increased single-use plastic consumption — PPE, packaging, and food delivery items — reversing previous progress on plastic reduction. The surge in pandemic plastics is expected to increase microplastic pollution in air, water, and food for years to come.
Prevalence of Plastic Usage and the Factors Associated With It Among Adults in Perambalur District of South India: A Cross-Sectional Study
Researchers surveyed 1,200 adults in South India about their plastic use habits, finding that 92.5% use plastic daily despite widespread awareness of its harms and local bans on plastic bags. The study found that younger, urban, more educated, and male participants were the heaviest plastic users, indicating that awareness alone is not enough to change behavior.
Plastic pollution induced by the COVID-19: Environmental challenges and outlook
Researchers used bibliometric analysis to map research on plastic pollution generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that wealthier nations led early inquiry while developing countries followed, and revealing that pandemic-related plastics — from masks to medical waste — are creating cascading contamination from land to ocean to atmosphere.
Plastic pollution during COVID-19: Plastic waste directives and its long-term impact on the environment
Researchers reviewed how the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated global plastic production — through mandatory masks, gloves, and single-use packaging — worsening long-term micro- and nanoplastic pollution in oceans, soils, and food chains. The study calls for stronger plastic waste management programs that specifically target the prevention of small plastic particles from entering ecosystems.