Canadian researchers develop biodegradable face mask  

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One of the unexpected consequences of the current pandemic is the high volume of discarded surgical face masks littering the streets and even washing up on beaches.

And as the use of these masks becomes ever more widespread there is growing concern about the impact of this waste on the environment.

Researchers at the University of British Columbia in Canada may have come up with a solution by using one of the country’s most plentiful raw materials – wood - to develop a fully compostable and biodegradable medical grade face mask.

“With escalating tensions during a pandemic, international supply lines for medical masks can break down, creating local shortages,” said researcher Johan Foster, a chemical and biological engineering associate professor in the faculty of applied science. “When we decided to design a mask back in March, we knew early on we wanted a solution that uses local materials, is easy to produce and inexpensive, with the added bonus of being compostable and biodegradable.”

MORE COVID-19 TECHNOLOGY NEWS HERE

The new mask—dubbed Canadian-Mask, or Can-Mask—ticks all those boxes, said Foster, who’s also the NSERC Canfor Industrial Research Chair in Advanced Bioproducts at UBC.

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