Occurrence of Covid-19 Personal Protective Equipment (Ppe) Litters Along the Eastern Coast of Palawan Island, Philippines

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused worldwide health constraints. To prevent virus transmission, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) has become one of the necessities of mankind throughout the pandemic. Because of its widespread use and improper disposal, there is an occurrence of PPE litters in various coastal sites around the world. However, the prevalence of these wastes has not been systematically documented in many countries including the Philippines. This study aimed to determine the density, types and accumulation of of PPE litters along the coast of Palawan Island, Philippines. Sampling was done by visual identification and collection of COVID-19 PPE items by walking along the established transects in each sampling site. PPE items collected were classified and sorted into categories. A total of 386 COVID-19 related PPE items were collected over a cumulative area of 48,200 m 2 , with a density of 0.008 items per m 2 . The face mask (98%; n=377) was the predominant type of PPE and out of the total items of face masks, 98% (n=370) were surgical masks while only 2% (n=7) were cloth. On the other hand, the daily density of PPE litters in San Manuel, Puerto Princesa ranged from 0 to 0.099 items per m 2 , with a mean density of 0.008 items per m 2 . The accumulation rates of PPE items ranged from 0.327 items to 1.143 items per day, with an average rate of 0.729 items per day. It was also observed that the prevalence of PPE items decreases over time, however, there was a remarkable increase in PPE density (0.011 items per m 2 ) on day 5 (Monday). Overall, this study revealed that 83% of the coastal sampling sites showed the prevalence of COVID-19 PPE litters.