Disposable surgical masks affect the decomposition of Zostera muelleri.

Autor: Litchfield SG; National Marine Science Centre and Marine Ecology Research Centre, Southern Cross University, PO Box 4321, Coffs Harbour, NSW 2450, Australia., Tan M; National Marine Science Centre and Marine Ecology Research Centre, Southern Cross University, PO Box 4321, Coffs Harbour, NSW 2450, Australia., Schulz KG; Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry and School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, PO Box 157, East Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia., Kelaher BP; National Marine Science Centre and Marine Ecology Research Centre, Southern Cross University, PO Box 4321, Coffs Harbour, NSW 2450, Australia. Electronic address: brendan.kelaher@scu.edu.au.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Marine pollution bulletin [Mar Pollut Bull] 2023 Mar; Vol. 188, pp. 114695. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Feb 10.
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.114695
Abstrakt: The coronavirus pandemic has caused a surge in the use of both disposable and re-usable mask pollution globally. It is important to understand the potential impact this influx of novel pollution has on key ecological processes, such as detrital dynamics. We aimed to understand the impact mask pollution has on the decomposition of a common coastal seagrass, Zostera muelleri. Using an outdoor mesocosm system with heater chiller units and a gas mixer, we were able to test the impact of both re-usable single-ply homemade cotton masks and disposable surgical masks on samples of Z. muelleri detritus under different environmental conditions. We found that disposable masks, but not re-usable masks, significantly increased decomposition of Z. muelleri detritus. This may be due to the increased surface area available for detritivorous microorganism colonisation, driving further decomposition. This could have negative ramifications for seagrass communities and adjacent ecosystems.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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