戴口罩是限制 COVID-19 传播的基本预防和控制措施。一次性口罩的普遍使用和处置不当引起了人们对其环境影响的严重关注，因为在大流行期间和之后，塑料水污染已被放弃。本研究旨在揭示丢弃在水生环境中的面罩非织造纺织品产生的微塑料/纳米塑料的释放情况。通过显微镜和流式细胞术评估，暴露于不同水平的机械应力（从低到高剪切应力强度）被证明可以有效地将面罩织物破碎和破碎成更小的碎片，包括宏观、微观和纳米-塑料。即使在处理的第一秒后织物变质程度很低，8个亚微米颗粒，主要包含在纳米尺寸范围内。由于目前缺乏关于通用口罩造成的潜在环境危害的知识，我们通过合适的技术方法提供了新的定量数据，说明一次性口罩释放的微塑料/纳米塑料可能威胁水生生态系统他们最终结束了。

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Wearing face masks is a fundamental prevention and control measure to limit the spread of COVID-19. The universal use and improper disposal of single-use face masks are raising serious concerns for their environmental impact, owing to the foregone contribution to plastic water pollution during and beyond the pandemic. This study aims to uncover the release of micro/nanoplastics generated from face mask nonwoven textiles once discarded in the aquatic environment. As assessed by microscopy and flow cytometry, the exposure to different levels of mechanical stress forces (from low to high shear stress intensities) was proved effective in breaking and fragmenting face mask fabrics into smaller debris, including macro-, micro-, and nano-plastics. Even at the low level of fabric deterioration following the first second of treatment, a single mask could release in water thousands of microplastic fibers and up to 108 submicrometric particles, mostly comprised in the nano-sized domain. By contributing to the current lack of knowledge regarding the potential environmental hazards posed by universal face masking, we provided novel quantitative data, through a suitable technological approach, on the release of micro/nanoplastics from single-use face masks that can threaten the aquatic ecosystems to which they finally end-up.