If you've gone out in recent weeks, you may have seen the growing problem of plastic gloves and masks littered in shopping centers and parking lots on Long Island.

The issue stems from a matter of useful caution from shoppers -- wearing protective gear to stop the spread of COVID-19.

But Denise Serravalli, of Levittown, says what she saw in a Home Depot parking lot was upsetting.

"I was observing all these gloves and masks in the parking lot, and I was thinking to myself, how lazy are people?" she says. "There are literally garbage cans when you're coming out of Home Depot, take your gloves and throw them out in the garbage can. We are trying to be very cautious with what we're doing, so when they come out of the store and these gloves and masks are all over the parking lot, I don't like it, it's actually disgusting."

Environmentalists on Long Island are also concerned because they say the masks and gloves may end up in our waterways.

Dr. Evelina Grayver, who works in a COVID-19 critical care unit at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, says the medical waste left behind in parking lots is not only disgusting, but is potentially dangerous and could make someone sick.

"We don't know all the potential ways it can actually be spread," says Grayver. "We can definitely infect someone, people can easily get rid of their own masks by putting it in the trash can."