Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) is a boon but could also be a bane at the same time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Handled properly it is life-saving, handled improperly it could be life-threatening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PPEs which include face masks, gloves, plastic gowns and other infection control apparel have provided much-needed protection for frontline workers in hospitals and elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Masks are also a requirement for the rest of us when in public places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of these masks are made of artificial fabrics. These fabrics are inter-woven with polypropylene thermoplastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It has been estimated that, on a daily basis,\u00a0 a whopping total of 10 million masks are used and discarded, many indiscriminately, in Malaysia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That, however, would not be a cause for worry if conventional recycling methods can break down these masks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But unfortunately, this is not the case. Most of these gloves and masks end up in landfills or pollute the seas, causing yet another threat to wildlife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PPEs which could be contaminated with pathogens and infectious diseases such as tuberculosis pose a real danger to humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Proper SOPs must be instituted for the safe disposal of PPEs, especially in public places.\u00a0 Hospitals authorities have already been doing their bit by the proper disposal of medical wastes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The authorities must step it their efforts at enforcing laws against littering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Along with enforcement, it is also important to take measures to educate the public against the indiscriminate disposal of PPEs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Education must begin in schools where teachers can inculcate good hygienic habits among the school children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fighting the Covid-19 pandemic is already a full-time effort.\u00a0 We must not divert our attention and resources to fight PPE pollution as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have no time to lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For every day\u2019s delay, another 10 million masks will be disposed of, many of them indiscriminately.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) is a boon but could also be a bane at the same time. Handled properly it is life-saving, handled improperly it could be life-threatening. PPEs which include face masks, gloves, plastic gowns and other infection control apparel have provided much-needed protection for frontline workers in hospitals and elsewhere. Masks are also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":615,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-614","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sudut-pendapat"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":616,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614\/revisions\/616"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}