Will COVID-19 Containment and Treatment Measures Drive Shifts in Marine Litter Pollution?

[ ]without clear instructions and disposing systems in place, numerous media outlets worldwide have been reporting on the surge of masks, gloves, visors, and other PPE and SUP items being found in beaches, coastlines, and rivers (e g , CGTN, 2020;CNN, 2020;Euronews, 2020) With many countries taking action to reopen their economic activities, we urge all stakeholders—international organizations, regional conventions, and national governments—to: (i) maintain a firm and steady course, not relieving or postponing any target or expected timeline implementation for previous agreements, measures, or goals (e g , action plans signed under UNEP Global Partnership on Marine Litter, EU Strategy for Plastics in the Circular Economy, EU Single Use Plastic Directive, and Paris Agreement) to avoid major setbacks in marine litter and circular economy achievements and (ii) promote adequate recycling streams and waste management (e g , the EU revision process of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive) at a time when the global use of PPE and other SUP has increased exponentially [ ]it is equally important to consider that ongoing marine litter monitoring programs [e g , OSPAR Commission, MSFD, UNEP, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)] were likely affected by this COVID-19 outbreak, with many countries forced to stop their field campaigns [ ]to the best of our knowledge, disposable PPE such as gloves, masks, visors, and other equivalent items are not included in marine litter monitoring programs for beaches, rivers, and seafloor as specific categories (UNEP et al , 2009;Opfer et al , 2012;European Commission, 2013;Lippiatt et al , 2013), which may lead to an undiagnosed source of pollution if the current litter classification tables are maintained