COVID-19 discarded disposable gloves as a source and a vector of pollutants in the environment

Highlights: • Alarming increase in the use of disposable protective gloves (DPGs) during the pandemic. • Randomly discarded DPGs became a popular environmental waste. • DPGs as a source of toxic chemicals leaching from to the environment. • DPGs as a potential carrier of pollutants in the environment. • Aging of DPGs and environmental consequences. The appearance of the virus SARS-CoV-2 at the end of 2019 and its spreading all over the world has caused global panic and increase of personal protection equipment usage to protect people against infection. Increased usage of disposable protective gloves, their discarding to random spots and getting to landfills may result in significant environmental pollution. The knowledge concerning possible influence of gloves and potential of gloves debris on the environment (water, soil, etc.), wildlife and humans is crucial to predict future consequences of disposable gloves usage caused by the pandemic. This review focuses on the possibility of chemical release (heavy metals and organic pollutants) from gloves and gloves materials, their adsorptive properties in terms of contaminants accumulation and effects of gloves degradation under environmental conditions.