Occurrence of COVID-19-Related Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Litter in Mangroves and Beaches in Davao City, Philippines

During the COVID-19 pandemic, personal protective equipment (PPE) has been an essential material to protect people from getting infected by the coronavirus disease. Many of these PPE are not properly disposed of and are found to pollute the environment. This study determined the occurrence of COVID-19-related PPE litter in beach and mangrove areas in Davao City, Philippines. Marine litter was collected during low tide from five beaches and three mangrove areas in January 2022. From the five beach areas, 2765 items of marine litter were collected with a mean density of 0.84/m 2 . From the three mangrove areas, 353 items were collected with a mean density of 0.20/m 2 . COVID-19-associated PPE litter comprised 10% and 34% of total marine litter in beaches and mangroves, respectively. These results reveal that the mangroves are significant sinks of COVID-19-related PPE litter. The clean-up, fate, and ecological effects of PPE litter in mangroves deserve more attention.