September 22, 2026 | Source: Nature.com | by Umesh Pankaj,  Mahendra Kumar Verma,  Anil Kumar Rai &  Piyoosh K. Babele

Plastics have unique properties and have therefore become an integral part of human life. Plastic production has increased exponentially due to its ubiquitous applications. Since the advent of the 20th century, humans have been producing plastics, resulting in the global production of approximately 10 billion metric tons of plastic¹. To meet the rising living standards of the global population, plastic production is expected to continue increasing in the future^1,2. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increasing demand for personal protective equipment (PPE), a significant portion of which is composed of plastic materials. Rivas et al³ demonstrated accelerated plastic pollution during COVID-19. Exacerbated utilization of single use plastic (hospital setting >75%) during COVID-19 and discharge into environment (ocean) drove plastic pollution, including MPs/NPs. Accumulated research data clearly showed the spread and contamination of waterways and soil. Marine organisms (microbes to higher animals) were reported to have a magnified (up to toxic level) level of MPs and NPs^4,5. According to Peng et al.⁶, more than 8.4 ± 1.4 million tons of pandemic-associated plastic waste has been generated from 193 countries. Further, a larger content (25.9 ± 3.8 thousand tons) was released/discharged into ocean. Study also highlighted the 70% global plastic discharge originated from hospital. In a recent study, Rai et al.⁷ showed impact single-use plastic from hospital during COVID19 on global bio circular economy and environment. The degradation plastics into micro and nanoplastics drove by marine environment and other drivers leading to contamination of soil, water and biotic component⁸. As per the study by Saliu et al.⁹ ocean biotics components (phytoplankton and microbes) act as key driver for the processing of plastics and breakdown of microfibre (mask and other single-use products).