Marine Pollution Bulletin 174 (2022) 113181

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Marine Pollution Bulletin

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/marpolbul

Baseline

Face masks related to COVID-19 in the beaches of the Moroccan

Mediterranean: An emerging source of plastic pollution
Bilal Mghili *, Mohamed Analla, Mustapha Aksissou
LESCB, URL-CNRST N◦ 18, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Faculty of Sciences, Tetouan, Morocco

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: During the COVID-19 pandemic, face masks became a common type of litter invading many different environ­
COVID-19 ments, including tourist beaches. However, the presence of face masks on beaches threatens the marine envi­
Mask ronment with a new form of plastic pollution. In this study, we monitored the occurrence and density of face
Plastic pollution
masks on five tourist beaches along the Moroccan Mediterranean during five months starting from February until
Microplastics
June 2021. A total of 321 face masks were recorded on the five beaches, 96.27% of which were single use. The
Morocco
mean density of face masks was 0.0012 ± 0.0008 m− 2. Recreational beaches were the most polluted in the study
area. This is related to the important influx of beachgoers on urban beaches compared to resort beaches. With the
large number of masks introduced on the beach, we hypothesize that microplastic pollution could increase
drastically in the Moroccan Mediterranean in the coming years. Significant efforts are required to reduce this
type of waste.

Plastic pollution in the world’s oceans is now widely recognised as a
major global challenge (Everaert et al., 2020). The dangers that plastic
pollution presents to marine environments have been studied for a long
time and are well documented (Derraik, 2002; Everaert et al., 2020;
Bhagat et al., 2021; De-la-Torre et al., 2021a). These marine wastes are
found on beaches and in oceans around the world, and have serious
impact on marine wildlife, fishing, health, shipping, and tourism in­
dustries (Gall and Thompson, 2015; Krelling et al., 2017; Beaumont
et al., 2019).
Since the appearance of the COVID-19 pandemic, the daily request
for face masks has reached high levels. Millions of face masks are used
globally every day, and these masks can enter the environment through
landfills or discarded litter (Patrício Silva et al., 2020; Selvaranjan et al.,
2021). According to a recent report of OceansAsia (2020), about 1.56
billion face masks entered the oceans in 2020. Recent studies confirm
that face masks are potential sources of microplastic pollution in the
water systems (Fadare and Okoffo, 2020; Shruti et al., 2020; Ma et al.,
2021; Saliu et al., 2021; Shen et al., 2021; Wang et al., 2021). They are
produced from a variety of polymers such as polypropylene, poly­
acrylonitrile, polyurethane, polycarbonate, polystyrene, polyethylene,
or polyester (Aragaw, 2020; Fadare and Okoffo, 2020). With the in­
crease in both production and consumption of face masks, microplastics
released from face masks will continue to increase in the coming years,
potentially exacerbating the existing plastic pollution. If no mitigation
strategies are adopted, it is expected to increase their amount in natural
environments, with negative consequences for the marine biota (Patrí­
cio Silva et al., 2021).
The presence of face masks has been documented in several public
places and natural environments, including touristic beaches (Okuku
et al., 2020; Ammendolia et al., 2021; Ardusso et al., 2021; Cordova
et al., 2021). The density of disposable face masks on beaches seems to
be considerably greater than in any other location (Patrício Silva et al.,
2021). Mismanaged face masks deposited on land or in landfills can find
their way into marine environments through many routes (Okuku et al.,
2020; De-la-Torre et al., 2021b; Rakib et al., 2021). They are easily
transported to the beaches by rivers, wind, tides, drainage systems,
shipping routes, or human activities (Patrício Silva et al., 2021). For
instance, face masks were observed in Lima beach, Peru (De-la-Torre
et al., 2021b), the Kenyan coast (Okuku et al., 2020), the Chilean coast
(Thiel et al., 2021), the Bushehr coast, in the Persian Gulf (Akhbarizadeh
et al., 2021), Cox’s Bazar coast, Bangladesh (Rakib et al., 2021),
Colombian beaches (Ardusso et al., 2021), and the northern coast of São
Paulo State, Brazil (Neto et al., 2021). Recent studies show that face
masks have a negative impact on wildlife through entanglement and
ingestion (Hiemstra et al., 2021; Neto et al., 2021).
As in all other countries across the world, Morocco lives a special

* Corresponding author at: Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Biology, P O Box 2121, M’Hannech II, 93030 Tetouan, Morocco.
E-mail address: b.mghili@uae.ac.ma (B. Mghili).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113181
Received 12 July 2021; Received in revised form 14 November 2021; Accepted 19 November 2021
Available online 26 November 2021
0025-326X/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
B. Mghili et al. Marine Pollution Bulletin 174 (2022) 113181

situation after the spread of COVID-19 in March 2020. The Moroccan occupation. Indeed, incorrect disposal of marine debris at these beaches
government has adopted a series of measures to avoid the transmission has been reported by previous studies (Nachite et al., 2019; Mghili et al.,
of the virus, including health, social, and economic measures. Moroccan 2020).
authorities have mandated the use of face masks in closed environments. Face mask monitoring followed the previous studies conducted on
As a result, millions of face masks are being manufactured and used daily tourist beaches by De-la-Torre et al. (2021b) and Rakib et al. (2021). For
for protection against the SARS-CoV-2. A large number of these masks sampling in each beach, several transects were established. The number
are being dumped on streets, beaches, rivers and sewers. In Morocco, and length of transects varied with beach size and morphology. The
several studies have been published indicating that disposable masks are surveyed transect was identified by GPS to guarantee that the same
not adequately treated with insufficient waste management (Ben Had­ sample units were monitored for all surveys. Table 1 shows the
dad et al., 2021; Mejjad et al., 2021). After the opening of the Moroccan geographic coordinates, beach typology, activities and areas covered in
public beaches following the lockdowns, Ben Haddad et al. (2021) re­ the five beaches. A total of 16 sampling campaigns were performed
ported an increase in the density of litter related to COVID-19 in between February and June 2021. Each beach was surveyed three times
Moroccan Atlantic beaches. Therefore, a small amount of mismanaged per month with interval times ten days after the first sampling.
waste will lead to more plastic debris on Moroccan beaches. Due to the Face masks were identified visually by walking along each site (De-
lack of litter data collected during the pandemic, there is an increasing la-Torre et al., 2021b). In addition, each face mask item was examined
need to identify key litter related to COVID-19 (Canning-Clode et al.,
2020).
Table 1
The main objective of this research was to report the occurrence and
Geographical coordinates, beach typology, activities and areas covered in the
density of face masks on five beaches along the Moroccan Mediterra­
five sampling sites.
nean. We also examined the probable role of face masks in the creation
of secondary microplastics. Beach Coordinates Beach Activity Area
typology covered
Tetouan coastline, located in the Western Moroccan coast of the
Mediterranean Sea, adjacent to the Gibraltar strait. The coast of this Fnideq 35◦ 51′ 12′′ N/ 5◦ 20′ Urban Tourism and 6446 m2
53′′ W fishing
region is one of the most traditional tourist destinations of the Moroccan
M’diq 35◦ 41′ 50′′ N/ 5◦ 19′ Urban Tourism and 1818 m2
Mediterranean. The study was conducted on five beaches (Fig. 1). The 42′′ W fishing
urban beaches of Fnideq, M’diq and Martil are fundamentally used for Martil 35◦ 38′ 43′′ N/ 5◦ 16′ Urban Tourism and 3884 m2
swimming and sunbathing by beach users and national tourists starting 43′′ W fishing
from June till September, but have an important recreational use Azla 35◦ 33′ 59′′ N/ 5◦ 14′ Remote Fishing 2923 m2
58′′ W
throughout the year because they are a place for walk exercises, to enjoy Kaa 35◦ 25′ 21′′ N/ 5◦ 04′ Remote Fishing 2718 m2
the scenery, play sports as well as attending other activities. In contrast, Asrasse 25′′ W
Azla beach and Kaa Asrasse are located in an area of a low human

Fig. 1. Study sites along the Moroccan Mediterranean and sampling locations.

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B. Mghili et al. Marine Pollution Bulletin 174 (2022) 113181

carefully with the naked eye to find any sign of alteration and/or Table 2
degradation (Akhbarizadeh et al., 2021). Each face mask item with a Mean densities of face masks (items/m2) recorded in the five study sites.
sign of degradation was identified as a damaged mask. Fnideq M’diq Martil Azla Kaa Asrasse Total
At each station, the density of face masks was calculated using the
Feb 21 12 29 5 7 74
following equation (Okuku et al., 2020): Mar 20 10 24 7 2 63
C = n / A: where C is the density of face masks items per m2, n is the Apr 9 1 7 4 3 24
number of face masks, and A is the area of the surveyed beach. May 5 7 9 4 2 27
All five beaches monitored were contaminated with face masks Jun 44 24 36 19 10 133
Total 99 54 105 39 24 321
(Fig. 2). The presence of face masks associated with COVID-19 was re­ Mean (m− 2) 0.0010 0.002 0.0018 0.0008 0.0005
ported in 15 out of the 16 surveys. During the study period, 321 face SD 0.0006 0.0014 0.0011 0.0007 0.0004
masks were recorded in the five beaches surveyed (Table 2). No gloves Overall mean 0.0012
were found on the five beaches. Face masks were principally composed SD 0.0008
of single-use surgical masks (96.27%; n = 309), and the rest were
reusable cloth masks (3.73%; n = 12). Reusable masks are less likely to
et al., 2021b). At the same time, the mean density was lower than that
be discarded than single-use masks (Ammendolia et al., 2021). In many
found on the beaches of the Chilean coast (Thiel et al., 2021) and the
countries around the world, face masks are the most abundant type of
Cox’s Bazar coast (Rakib et al., 2021). As shown in Table 3, PPE density
personal protective equipment (PPE) on beaches and the Moroccan
varies among regions of the world, which may be influenced by sam­
Mediterranean beaches are no exception to this (Akhbarizadeh et al.,
pling methods, area sampled, weather conditions (wind and precipita­
2021; Ben Haddad et al., 2021; De-la-Torre et al., 2021b; Rakib et al.,
tion), population density, type of region (tourist or non-tourist), and
2021; Neto et al., 2021; Thiel et al., 2021). In the urban environment,
COVID-19 restrictions (Ben Haddad et al., 2021; De-la-Torre et al.,
gloves are the most abundant type of PPE (Ammendolia et al., 2021).
2021b; Patrício Silva et al., 2021).
In the five beaches, the mean density of face masks was 1.2 × 10− 3 ±
As summarized in Table 2, the highest total number of items was
8 × 10− 4 m− 2 and ranged from 0 to 3.67 × 10− 3 m− 2 (Table 2). Recent
found in Martil beach (32.72%; n = 105), followed by Fnideq beach
studies have documented the occurrence and density of PPE items on
(30.85%; n = 99), M’diq beach (16.82%; n = 54), Azla beach (12.14%; n
beaches (Table 3). The mean density of face masks in the study area were
= 39) and Kaa Asrasse beach (7.47%; n = 24). Based on the results,
comparable to the values reported on the Kenyan coast (Okuku et al.,
recreational beaches were the most polluted beaches by face masks
2020), the Bushehr coast, in the Persian Gulf (Akhbarizadeh et al., 2021)
along the study area (Table 2). Conversely, resort beaches were less
and in urban areas of Toronto (Ammendolia et al., 2021). On the other
polluted by face masks (Table 2). This is related to the important influx
hand, the density was much higher than the values reported from Agadir
of beachgoers on urban beaches compared to resort beaches where
beach, Morocco (Ben Haddad et al., 2021) and Lima, Peru (De-la-Torre

Fig. 2. Examples of surgical masks found on the five beaches along the Moroccan Mediterranean.

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B. Mghili et al. Marine Pollution Bulletin 174 (2022) 113181

Table 3 et al. (2021) reported a high accumulation rate of face masks on Chilean
Comparison of the mean and range of PPE densities on the beaches of different beaches during the summer. A similar trend was observed in coastal São
countries. Paulo, Brazil (Neto et al., 2021). The number of face masks found in the
Country City PPE density (PPE m− 2) Reference supralittoral zone was higher than the number of masks sampled in the
Mean Range
intertidal zone. This suggests that the majority of these wastes were left
by beachgoers. This behavior and lack of environmental awareness of
Morocco Tetouana 1.2 × 0–3.67 × 10− 3
This study
beach users in the Moroccan Mediterranean has been reported previ­
10-3a
Morocco Agadir 1.13 × 0–1.21 × 10− 4
Ben Haddad et al. ously (Nachite et al., 2019; Mghili et al., 2020).
10− 5 (2021) The Moroccan Mediterranean coasts already suffer from large
Kenya Kwale and – 0–5.6 × 10 − 2
Okuku et al. (2020) amounts of plastic (Nachite et al., 2019; Mghili et al., 2020). The in­
Kilifi crease in the manufacture and consumption of face masks in the
4
Peru Lima 6.42 × 0–7.44 × 10− De-la-Torre et al.
10− 5 (2021b)
Kingdom of Morocco has created a new environmental challenge, add­
Chile Nationwide 6.00 × – Thiel et al. (2021) ing a large amount of plastic discarded into the environment. These face
10-3a masks will be altered when exposed to natural factors such as sunlight
Bangladesh Cox’s Bazar 6.29 × 3.16 × Rakib et al. (2021) (including UV radiation), sea waves and sand abrasion (De-la-Torre and
10− 3 10− 4–2.18 ×
Aragaw, 2021; Saliu et al., 2021). The potential threats presented by
10− 2
Persian Bushehr – 7.71 × Akhbarizadeh et al. face masks as a source of microplastics fibers have already been
Gulf 10− 3–2.70 × (2021) demonstrated by several studies (Aragaw, 2020; Fadare and Okoffo,
10− 2 2020; Patrício Silva et al., 2020; Shruti et al., 2020; Ma et al., 2021; Saliu
a
Only face masks were counted. et al., 2021; Shen et al., 2021; Wang et al., 2021). Microplastics can be
released from the degradation of the inner layer (polyethylene) and
outer layer (polypropylene) fabrics of face masks (Fadare and Okoffo,
human activity is limited (fishing). As urban beaches have attracted
2020). Akhbarizadeh et al. (2021) illustrated the role of face masks in
more visitors, the disposal of masks on beaches has also increased.
creating secondary microplastics on beaches. Physical abrasion induced
Similar findings were documented in previous studies in different re­
by sand exaggerated the liberation of microplastic fibers from the masks,
gions of the world. De-la-Torre et al. (2021b) also observed that beaches
with more than 16 million fibers released from a single mask altered in
with more intensive tourism had higher densities of discarded PPE. High
the presence of sand (Wang et al., 2021). In static water, the released
PPE records on recreational beaches were also documented in Toronto,
quantity of microplastics by one mask is 360 items, and with increasing
Canada (Ammendolia et al., 2021), Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh (Rakib
vibration rate, this quantity tends to increase (Shen et al., 2021).
et al., 2021) and the Bushehr coast, in the Persian Gulf (Akhbarizadeh
Recently, Saliu et al. (2021) indicated that a single surgical mask sub­
et al., 2021). During these surveys, we also noted the absence of garbage
jected to 180 h of UV-light irradiation and vigorous agitation in artificial
cans at all five beaches. In addition, these beaches had no signs directing
seawater could release up to 173,000 fibers/day. In our case, signs of
the public on how to correctly dispose of their face mask.
damage were observed on the face masks found on the beaches, con­
Along the five months of the study, the density of face masks varied
firming that these masks are altered under prolonged sunlight exposition
from a survey to another (Fig. 3). These sampling periods are not suf­
(Fig. 4a). Based on the present study, about millions of disposable masks
ficient to affirm that pollution from face masks is continuously
enter the sea with thousands of microfibers that can be released every
increasing with time. In fact, 23.05% of the total number of masks were
day. The presence of microplastics in the study area was previously
found in the three February surveys. The low number of face masks was
demonstrated by Alshawafi et al. (2017). With the high quantity of face
recorded during the period of April–May, which corresponds to the
masks introduced on the beach and the sea, we hypothesize that
Ramadan month (Fig. 3). During this period, human activities are
microplastic pollution could increase in the Moroccan Mediterranean,
decreased during the day and restricted during the night. The maximum
particularly in zones with a high quantity of face masks. The micro­
density of disposed masks reached during the month of June (41.43%),
plastics released by face masks as a result of a degradation process would
which is probably due to the higher number of visitors that came to the
be harmful to several organisms upon accidental ingestion (Patrício
studied beaches (Fig. 3). It is noteworthy that these beaches are cleaned
Silva et al., 2021).
by the municipality every day during the summer season. The notable
Like other types of marine debris, face masks can interact with ma­
differences in face mask densities between the five months can be
rine biota (Patrício Silva et al., 2021). During the sampling campaigns,
attributed to the number of persons visiting the studied beaches. Thiel

Fig. 3. The total number of face masks found in each sampling campaign during the five months of the study.

4
B. Mghili et al.
Fig. 4. The presence of litter related to COVID-19 in the Moroccan Mediterranean a) Damaged face mask on the beach of Martil, b) Bird wears a face mask in the city
of Martil, c) Masks and golfs found by divers in the seabed of the Moroccan Mediterranean.
we have registered the observation of several seabird species, including
Larus michaellis, Larus audouinii, Himantopus himantopus and Calidris
alba. The presence of face masks on the beaches, constitutes a threat of
entanglement for these species. We have already observed a bird
wearing a face mask in the coastal city of Martil (Fig. 4b). Also, Hiemstra
et al. (2021) reported photographic evidence of birds entrapped in a face
mask and fish entrapped in gloves. Birds have also begun to include PPE
litter in their nests (Hiemstra et al., 2021). Unfortunately, this issue is
not limited to Moroccan beaches; divers from the association champions
Fnideq Underwater Fishing found masks and gloves on the seabed
during a clean-up near the coast of Tetouan (Fig. 4c). The presence of
this waste on the seabed poses a threat to ocean life. The NGO Argonauta
Institute for Coastal and Marine Conservation previously reported the
death of a Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus Magellanicus) by ingestion of
an N95 mask on the northern coast of São Paulo state, Brazil (Neto et al.,
2021).
During the COVID-19 pandemic, face masks have become a common
type of waste on the beaches of the Moroccan Mediterranean due to the
intensive use of these masks. Morocco was already suffering from
inadequate waste management practices on beaches before the COVID-
19 outbreak. The presence of debris related to COVID-19 in the envi­
ronment has put additional pressure on the waste management systems.
The majority of face masks arises from recreational sources, suggesting
that some control measures are needed that would help minimize the
amount of these wastes discarded by beachgoers. The most important
ways to minimize single-use face masks are by replacing them with non-
plastic reusable masks. In addition, the government must take imme­
diate measures to promote public awareness and behavioral changes
linked to the standardized use and disposal of face masks in order to
reduce the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. These include installations
of more dustbins and signs on Moroccan beaches. The current situation
also needs an extension of the spatio-temporal cleaning activities for a
better management of these types of waste on the tourist beaches of the
Moroccan Mediterranean. We also require an immediate and coordi­
nated commitment to circular economy approaches, particularly strict
policies and recycling practices against mask pollution.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Mghili Bilal: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology,
Writing- Original draft preparation.
Analla Mohamed: Writing- Reviewing and Editing, Supervision,
5
Marine Pollution Bulletin 174 (2022) 113181
Validation.
Aksissou Mustapha: Writing- Reviewing and Editing, Supervision.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the students of Abdelmalek Essaâdi
University, Wijdane Mghili, Farah Ghailan, Hanane Aharram and also
Azdine El Karbouss for their contribution to the surveys on the five
beaches. We also thank Pr. El Hassan Sakar (Abdelmalek Essaâdi Uni­
versity) and Majda Aouititen for suggestions and English editing of the
manuscript.
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