PPE Litter: Another Long-Lasting Covid Reminder
Andrea Noble • May 11, 2021
Discarded masks and plastic gloves are turning up on beaches and in waterways with increasing frequency.
A beach vacation might sound like the perfect way for vaccinated Americans to put the coronavirus behind them this summer. But it will be hard to escape reminders of the pandemic on the sandy shores.
Discarded face masks, plastic gloves, and other personal protective equipment (PPE) are washing up on beaches and increasingly being found in waterways across the United States, raising concern among scientists about the effects of the litter on the environment.
The Ocean Conservancy, which organizes the annual International Coastal Cleanup, began tracking the amount of PPE found during cleanup events in late July. Volunteers have collected 107,219 individual pieces of PPE from beaches and waterways across the globe since then, according to a report released last month.
Fall beach cleanups in New Jersey resulted in the collection of more than 1,100 pieces of PPE, according to a recent report from Clean Ocean Action. That was out of more than 185,000 pieces of litter collected and logged by volunteers.
More than 500 pieces of PPE were collected in Virginia waterway cleanups last year, said Katie Register, executive director or Clean Virginia Waterways. Surgical facemasks, made up of polymeric materials, pose a particular threat.
“The masks, the top and bottom layers, are both flexible plastics,” said Register, who is working on a report on the prevalence of PPE litter in the state. “Like any other plastic, once they get into the environment they start to break up into smaller pieces of plastic.”
Those tiny “microplastics” can be ingested by shellfish and small fish. While the long-term effects of microplastics on wildlife and ecosystems are still being studied, scientists are concerned that they can harm the digestive tracts of animals that ingest them or encourage the spread of dangerous bacteria, said Chris Moore, a senior scientist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Maryland.
The foundation’s annual cleanup event is scheduled for the end of May, and the organization collects data on the type of litter picked up by volunteers.
Some municipalities have sought to crack down on coronavirus-related littering by increasing fines for littering PPE like face masks and gloves.
Last month, the city council in Boca Raton, Florida voted to raise fines for people who litter personal protective equipment. The standard littering fine is $50, but citizens caught throwing masks, gloves, or face shields on the ground in Boca Raton could face fines of up to $250.
The Los Angeles City Council similarly raised fines from $200 to $250 for PPE littering last year.
In Washington, D.C., residents complained to the district’s attorney general that health care workers at a local hospital were throwing discarded gloves and masks on city streets. The complaints prompted the attorney general to write to the hospital, warning the facility it could face potential penalties for violating local dumping laws if the problem was not addressed.
Other localities have incorporated information about PPE litter into public education campaigns.
“There is the need for education about how to dispose of these properly,” Moore said.
Atlanta’s public works department published guidance for how to safely handle PPE during litter cleanup events. The guide recommends picking up PPE with a litter stick or another collection device when possible. If items like masks must be collected by hand, it recommends using gloves and discarding the gloves after the item is collected.
Improperly discarded PPE isn’t the only pandemic-related litter problem local governments face.
As restaurants transitioned from indoor dining to takeout sales, use of disposable food containers and other to-go items spiked.
“That was a noticeable impact,” Register said. “A lot of people who were eating off of washable dishes were suddenly getting disposable containers and when we increase use of certain plastics, we increase plastic litter unfortunately.”
Andrea Noble is a staff correspondent for Route Fifty. Route Fifty connects the people and ideas advancing state, county and municipal government across the United States.
Common Sense for the Eastern Shore
Right now, Congress is working on a fast-track bill that would make historic cuts to basic needs programs in order to finance another round of tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations.
The House Agriculture Committee recently voted, along party lines, to advance legislation that would cut as much as $300 million from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SNAP is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program, helping more than 41 million people in the U.S. pay for food. With potential cuts this large, it helps to know who benefits from this program in Maryland, and who would lose this assistance. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities compiled data on SNAP beneficiaries by congressional district, cited below, and produced the Maryland state datasheet , shown below. In Maryland, in 2023-24, 1 in 9 people lived in a household with SNAP benefits. In Maryland’s First Congressional District, in 2023-24: Almost 34,000 households used SNAP benefits. Of those households, 43% had at least one senior (over age 60). 29% of SNAP recipients were people of color. 15% were Black, non-Hispanic, higher than 11.8% nationally. 6% were Hispanic (19.4% nationally). There were 24,700 total veterans (ages 18-64). Of those, 2,200 lived in households that used SNAP benefits (9%). The CBPP SNAP datasheet for Maryland is below. See data from all the states and download factsheets here.
Apparently, some people think that the GOP’s “big beautiful bill” is a foregone conclusion, and that the struggle over the budget and Trump’s agenda is over and done. Not true. On Sunday night, the bill — given the alternate name “Big Bad Bullsh*t Bill” by the Democratic Women’s Caucus — was voted out of the House Budget Committee. The GOP plan is to pass this legislation in the House before Memorial Day. But that’s not the end of it. As Jessica Craven explained in her Chop Wood Carry Water column: “Remember, we have at least six weeks left in this process. The bill has to: Pass the House, Then head to the Senate where it will likely be rewritten almost completely, Then be passed there, Then be brought back to the House for reconciliation, And then, if the House changes that version at all, Go back to the Senate for another vote.” She adds, “Every step of that process is a place for us to kill it.” The bill is over a thousand pages long, and the American people will not get a chance to read it until it has passed the House. But, thanks to 5Calls , we know it includes:
Let's talk about our Eastern Shore Delegation, the representatives who are supposed to fight for our nine Shore counties in Annapolis, and what they actually got up to this session.
For the first time in recent memory, Virginia Democrats have candidates running in all 100 House of Delegates districts — a milestone party leaders and grassroots organizers say reflects rising momentum as President Donald Trump’s second term continues to galvanize opposition.
The 447th legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly adjourned on April 8. This End of Session Report highlights the work Shore Progress has done to fight for working families and bring real results home to the Shore. Over the 90-day session, lawmakers debated 1,901 bills and passed 878 into law. Shore Progress and members supported legislation that delivers for the Eastern Shore, protecting our environment, expanding access to housing and healthcare, strengthening workers’ rights, and more. Shore Progress Supported Legislation By The Numbers: Over 60 pieces of our backed legislation were passed. Another 15 passed in one Chamber but not the other. Legislation details are below, past the budget section. The 2026 Maryland State Budget How We Got Here: Maryland’s budget problems didn’t start overnight. They began under Governor Larry Hogan. Governor Hogan expanded the state budget yearly but blocked the legislature from moving money around or making common-sense changes. Instead of fixing the structural issues, Hogan used federal covid relief funds to hide the cracks and drained our state’s savings from $5.5 billion to $2.3 billion to boost his image before leaving office. How Trump/Musk Made It Worse: Maryland is facing a new fiscal crisis driven by the Trump–Musk administration, whose trade wars, tariff policies, and deep federal cuts have hit us harder than most, costing the state over 30,000 jobs, shuttering offices, and erasing promised investments. A University of Maryland study estimates Trump’s tariffs alone could cost us $2 billion, and those federal cuts have already added $300 million to our budget deficit. Covid aid gave us a short-term boost and even created a fake surplus under Hogan, but that money is gone, while housing, healthcare, and college prices keep rising. The Trump–Musk White House is only making things worse by slashing funding, gutting services, and eliminating research that Marylanders rely on. How The State Budget Fixes These Issues: This year, Maryland faced a $3 billion budget gap, and the General Assembly fixed it with a smart mix of cuts and fair new revenue, while protecting working families, schools, and health care. The 2025 Budget cuts $1.9 billion ($400 million less than last year) without gutting services people rely on. The General Assembly raised $1.2 billion in fair new revenue, mostly from the wealthiest Marylanders. The Budget ended with a $350 million surplus, plus $2.4 billion saved in the Rainy Day Fund (more than 9% of general fund revenue), which came in $7 million above what the Spending Affordability Committee called for. The budget protects funding for our schools, health care, transit, and public workers. The budget delivers real wins: $800 million more annually for transit and infrastructure, plus $500 million for long-term transportation needs. It invests $9.7 billion in public schools and boosts local education aid by $572.5 million, a 7% increase. If current revenue trends hold, no new taxes will be needed next session. Even better, 94% of Marylanders will see a tax cut or no change, while only the wealthiest 5% will finally pay their fair share. The tax system is smarter now. We’re: Taxing IT and data services like Texas and D.C. do; Raising taxes on cannabis and sports betting, not groceries or medicine; and Letting counties adjust income taxes. The budget also restores critical funding: $122 million for teacher planning $15 million for cancer research $11 million for crime victims $7 million for local business zones, and Continued support for public TV, the arts, and BCCC The budget invests in People with disabilities, with $181 million in services Growing private-sector jobs with $139 million in funding, including $27.5 million for quantum tech, $16 million for the Sunny Day Fund, and $10 million for infrastructure loans. Health care is protected for 1.5 million Marylanders, with $15.6 billion for Medicaid and higher provider pay. Public safety is getting a boost too, with $60 million for victim services, $5.5 million for juvenile services, and $5 million for parole and probation staffing. This budget also tackles climate change with $100 million for clean energy and solar projects, and $200 million in potential ratepayer relief. Public workers get a well-deserved raise, with $200 million in salary increases, including a 1% COLA and ~2.5% raises for union workers. The ultra-wealthy will finally chip in to pay for it: People earning over $750,000 will pay more, Millionaires will pay 6.5%, and Capital gains over $350,000 get a 2% surcharge. Deductions are capped for high earners, but working families can still deduct student loans, medical debt, and donations. This budget is bold, fair, and built to last. That’s why Shore Progress proudly supports it. Click on the arrows below for details in each section.
