ArticleEnvironmental research2023
Environmental impacts of covid-19 pandemic: Release of microplastics, organic contaminants and trace metals from face masks under ambient environmental conditions.
Article in Environmental research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
- Serial cycle threshold to assess the infectious potential of SARS-CoV-2: A systematic review.Epidemiology and infection · 2026Pooled it
- Face mask littering: environmental impacts, regulatory challenges, and AI-driven waste management strategies for the postpandemic era.Turkish journal of medical sciences · 2026Review
- Valorization of Unused, Expired Surgical Masks in Polymer-Modified Bitumens Using Maleic Anhydride as a Compatibilizer.Polymers · 2025Article
- Effects of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals on Fetal Weight: Exposure Monitoring Among Mothers with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Their Fetuses.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Microplastic pollution in the marine environment: Sources, impacts, and degradation.Journal of advanced veterinary and animal research · 2025Article
- Identifying the determinants of face mask disposal behavior and policy implications: An application of the extended theory of planned behavior.Resources, conservation & recycling advances · 2023Article
- Pandemic COVID-19 ends but soil pollution increases: Impacts and a new approach for risk assessment.The Science of the total environment · 2023Article
- Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on microplastic abundance along the River Thames.Marine pollution bulletin · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The covid-19 pandemic era was characterized by heavy usage and disposal of medical face masks, now estimated at over 1.24 trillion. Few studies had attempted to demonstrate the release of microplastics from face masks using simulated conditions and application of mechanical forces, far different from the effects experienced by face masks dumped in the open environment, in landfills and dumpsites. In the current study, we monitored the release of microplastics, organic contaminants and toxic metals from medical face masks degraded under normal outdoor environmental conditions, over a period of 60 weeks. We showed that face mask's decomposition proceeded via sunlight (UV) - initiated oxidative degradation, leading to the replacement of methylene (CH
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.