An Indian Perspective on Sources of Persistent Organic Pollutants Associated with Plastic Handling: Consequences of COVID-19 Pandemic

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and fragments of plastics (meso/micro) from dumped waste or released/produced during incomplete combustion processes often co-exist in the environment. POPs and plastic-oriented pollution garner a lot of attention and better understanding through research is facilitating the creation of public awareness, and policy decisions have been adopted to combat the menace. Several studies have reported the pathway of transport and release of POPs via plastic waste that inadvertently ends up in these waste streams with the plastic waste acting as a vector for these contaminants. This study aims to report a perspective on the anthropogenic processes involving release of several POPs from the plastic products manufacturing and disposal systems in India. There has been substantial increase of plastic waste load particularly associated with the personal protective equipment in the waste stream after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study findings reveal increased plastic usage in India, and point towards open burning of plastic waste as an important cause for the intense emission levels of some of the industrial POPs.