A group of volunteers worked to clean up pieces of used personal protective equipment scattered across the Jersey Shore Saturday.

Volunteers from the group Clean Ocean Action gathered at Asbury Park Convention Center to clear the beach area of litter.

The group has organized beach clean-ups at communities throughout the Shore twice a year for 35 years now. They were at 60 sites, with the goal to collect garbage and data about discarded materials.

The group found everything from plastics bottles, to barbecue grills, lawn mowers and bed frames.

Last fall, volunteers found nearly 185,000 pieces of litter. A vast majority were plastics, which would eventually end up in the marine ecosystem.

Kathleen Gasienica, of Clean Ocean Action, said volunteers also found discarded personal PPE, like masks, gloves and wipes during the fall cleanup.

"We started to finding it on the street, and in parking lots, and then shortly after it was going down the storm drains and ending up on the beach," Gasienica said.

While over 1,000 pieces of PPE were found, it accounted for less than 1% of the litter found at the fall sweeps. However, most volunteers said they had at least one piece of PPE in their bag. And just like any plastic other materials or pieces of litter, it can have long term effects on local ecosystems.

"Just like everything, we have to be good stewards of the environment. I think if people realized where it ends up, they would be more cautious," said Gasienica said.