口罩沦为野生动物杀手 从猕猴到螃蟹无一幸免
新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情全球大流行时期挽救人命的口罩，如今却成了野生动物杀手。数量庞大的口罩垃圾侵入动物栖息地，伤害鸟类与海洋生物。
自从各国政府建议人民在公共场合佩戴口罩防疫后，一次性外科手术口罩就变得随处可见，世界各地的人行道、水道和海滩上都能找到其踪迹。
虽然这种一次性医用外科口罩材质较薄，但需要好几百年才能降解。
Masks that helped save lives during the coronavirus pandemic are proving a deadly hazard for wildlife, with birds and marine creatures ensnared in the staggering number of discarded facial coverings littering animal habitats.
Single-use surgical masks have been found scattered around pavements, waterways and beaches worldwide since countries began mandating their use in public places to slow the pandemic's spread.
Worn once, the thin protective materials can take hundreds of years to decompose.
不仅如此，用过的口罩若任意丢弃，对野生动物造成的危害超乎我们的想象。
在马来西亚，人们发现猕猴咀嚼被人类丢弃的口罩上的带子，这对这些小猴子来说是一种潜在的窒息危险。
在英国的切姆斯福德，英国皇家防止虐待动物协会（RSPCA）人员就曾及时挽救了一只腿部被口罩带子缠住长达一周的奄奄一息的海鸥。
Macaques have been spotted chewing the straps off old and tossed-aside masks in Malaysia – a potential choking hazard for the diminutive monkeys.
And in an incident that captured headlines in Britain, a gull was rescued by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in the city of Chelmsford after its legs became tangled in the straps of a disposable mask for up to a week.
The animal welfare charity was alerted after the bird was spotted, motionless but still alive, and they took it to a wildlife hospital for treatment before its release.
"It's clear the mask was there for some time and the elastic straps had tightened around his legs as his joints were swollen and sore," said RSPCA inspector Adam Jones.
疫情之下环境真的很“受伤”。
废弃口罩对环境构成的最大影响可能发生在水中。环保团体警告大量使用后抛弃的口罩、乳胶手套与其他医疗防护器材，以各种不同的方式流入早已受到污染的河流、大海，这正在破坏海洋生态系统。
海洋保护组织海洋亚洲的数据显示，去年有超过15亿个口罩流入世界各地的海洋，造成了约6200吨的海洋塑料污染。
The biggest impact may be in the water, with green groups alarmed at the flood of used masks, latex gloves and other protective gear finding their way into already contaminated seas and rivers.
More than 1.5 billion masks made their way into the world's oceans last year, accounting for around 6,200 extra tons of marine plastic pollution, according to environmental group OceansAsia.
已有迹象表明，口罩正在加剧对海洋生物的威胁。
巴西环保人士在被冲上岸的一只企鹅尸体胃内发现口罩。这并不是意外，在迈阿密外海也有河豚因口罩而丧命。
去年9月，法国的非营利组织——海洋清洁行动在邻近地中海的咸水湖发现了一只困死于口罩里的螃蟹。
Already there are signs that masks are worsening threats to marine life.
Conservationists in Brazil found one inside the stomach of a penguin after its body washed up on a beach, while a dead pufferfish was discovered caught inside another off the coast of Miami.
French campaigners Operation Mer Propre found a dead crab ensnared in a mask in a saltwater lagoon near the Mediterranean in September.
Masks and gloves are "particularly problematic" for sea creatures, says George Leonard, chief scientist from U.S.-based NGO Ocean Conservancy.
"When those plastics break down in the environment, they form smaller and smaller particles," he added, "those particles then enter the food chain and impact entire ecosystems."
There has been a shift towards greater use of reusable cloth masks as the pandemic has worn on, but many are still opting for the lighter single-use varieties.
Campaigners have urged people to bin them properly and snip the straps to reduce the risk of animals becoming ensnared.
OceansAsia has also called on governments to increase fines for littering and encourage the use of washable masks.
塑料永远也不会消失，它会分解成越来越小的碎片，然后进入食物链，最终转移到人类的身上。