My partner's company provided us with masks, and they were awful. I couldn't breathe well in it at all. Very tight and thick. Isn't it ridiculous and irresponsible that 'fact-checkers' state authoritatively, 'masks do not limit oxygen intake'? That surely depends very much on the kind of mask!
Also, a lot of these fact-checkers state that masks do not 'significantly' limit oxygen intake. So there seems to be acknowledgment that masks of any kind are having an impact on normal human functions. It's just not a 'significant impact'. But that's surely impossible to know, long term?
Even surgical masks have been shown to have a negative impact on the health of doctors doing surgery. Who knows what long-term cloth mask usage might be doing to our health?
It's pretty obvious that human beings are not meant to cover our faces from the world! So whatever the efficacy of masks, this better not be a new normal. We're just further separating ourselves from nature and we risk making ourselves sicker in the long run. Our microbiome requires interaction with the environment. Even if masks are definitely helpful in limiting Covid spread, I fear that the long term, negative impact of normalizing face coverings (and social distancing), could far outweigh any short term benefit. (Also, can it not be argued that it would be best to let the virus spread now, before winter?).
Some other issues with masks are brought up in this video, like the harmful and toxic material that some are apparently made out of, including microplastics.
And surely they collect so many germs? I doubt most people are washing them regularly. And aren't we touching our faces more? This 2015 study concluded that cloth masks actually increased infections and sickness.
We have also been advised to make our own masks, if we can't buy one, out of any old clothing that we have lying around. It seems no thought whatsoever has been put into what chemicals are on much of this clothing. Read here.
Oh and then there's the environmental impact.
And the psychological impact; what will the long term impact be on children, who're being made to see their peers as potentially deadly threats? And isn't it vital for their development that they see each other's facial expressions? If it's only very temporary, then maybe that's fine, but given vaccines are unlikely to be the magic pill many are hoping for, I'm concerned this will become the norm. And this is all because of a virus that is virtually no threat whatsoever to young people?!
And... is our entire approach to viruses based on centuries-old bad science?
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A mask study may show that viral spread is reduced if a mask is worn. But to base a global policy on that is crazy! There are other things to consider!! Will people wear them correctly, wash them every day? No! They’ll put them down in dirty places, then back them back on their faces. They’ll touch their faces MUCH more. They'll wear the same dirty mask for weeks on end. What about the impact on deaf people who rely on lip-reading? What about the impact on our overall health? Funnily enough, we’re not designed to walk around all day with our bodily excretions sitting in front of our faces! The body wants to get rid of things, not constantly recycle it back! And what about the PFAS chemicals in these masks?! What about the psychological impact? What is all of this doing to our immune systems?
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If there’s studies showing that masks trap most of the SARS-coV-2 virus as you exhale, but the real world evidence indicates no positive effect from masks in terms of actually reducing COVID-19 disease, then this should surely raise big questions regarding the germ theory of disease!
...or at least just raise questions re the safety of masks. Are they compromising people’s immune systems? Meaning that any positive impact in terms of reducing virus spread, is outweighed by them weakening immune health and increasing susceptibility to disease?
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Dangerous pathogens found on children’s face masks
Facemasks in the COVID-19 era: A health hypothesis
Covid-19: Important potential side effects of wearing face masks that we should bear in mind
Study: 'There is limited evidence for their effectiveness in preventing influenza virus transmission either when worn by the infected person for source control or when worn by uninfected persons to reduce exposure. Our systematic review found no significant effect of face masks on transmission of laboratory-confirmed influenza'.
Study: Penetration of cloth masks by particles was almost 97%
Blue surgical face masks are only 10% effective in preventing COVID infection, new study finds
Coronavirus: Face masks could increase risk of infection, medical chief warns
Lots of good points made in this video.
Coronavirus PPE likely to contain hazardous chemicals such as PFAS, NGO says
PFAS exposure found to increase risk of severe Covid-19
This article says 'unlikely' quite a lot. I did a quick search for 'mask headache' on Twitter and loads of people are complaining.
'Cloths do more harm than good' - ex-Senior Chief Biomedical Scientist, Public Health UK
Are cloth masks actually increasing aerosolization?
Study: "Speaking through some masks dispersed largest droplets into a multitude of smaller droplets..smaller particles are airborne longer than large droplets (larger droplets sink faster), a mask might be counterproductive."
Study: Cloths mask worse than no mask?
Virus spread in Tokyo, and herd immunity reached, with most people wearing masks?
There's been a trial on mask efficacy in Denmark - apparently the first and only randomized trial - and it looks like medical journals are refusing to publish it...
Masks, gloves don't stop coronavirus spread: experts
SARS-CoV-2 Transmission among Marine Recruits during Quarantine
Europe's Top Health Officials Say Masks Aren't Helpful in Beating COVID-19
Masks Don’t Work: A Review of Science Relevant to COVID-19 Social Policy
Face masks for the public during the covid-19 crisis
Study: "Breathing through N95 mask materials have been shown to impede gaseous exchange and impose an additional workload on the metabolic system".
Are Face Masks Effective? The Evidence
WHO Mask Study Seriously Flawed
Face masks in radiation oncology clinics: based on evidence or source of mistakes?
PFAS chemicals!!!
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150422121724.htm
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25903751/
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2029717#.X7SVO86fY4c.twitter
The clinical implications of elevated CO2 levels with long-term use of face masks needs further studies. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33858372/
"The results from the experiment demonstrate that heart rate, microclimate (temperature, humidity) and subjective ratings were significantly influenced by the wearing of different kinds of facemasks" https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7087880/
"Breathing through N95 mask materials have been shown to impede gaseous exchange and impose an additional workload on the metabolic system". https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4647822/
https://www.cugmhp.org/five-on-friday-posts/why-a-mask-is-not-just-a-mask/
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-03-masks-gloves-dont-coronavirus-experts.html
https://chemrxiv.org/engage/chemrxiv/article-details/60c74e910f50db810e397279
https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m2003
https://www.cugmhp.org/five-on-friday/why-a-mask-is-not-just-a-mask/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4647822/
‘needs further studies’ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33858372/
https://rationalground.com/dangerous-pathogens-found-on-childrens-face-masks/
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3865482
‘we found no significant reduction in influenza transmission with the use of face masks’ https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/5/19-0994_article?fbclid=IwAR1prxSIVl0llcwoMzSdPJZ0mdOKrlx7VLzX8olL8dm8EO2RFVN_Wb1oTyk
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12032-020-01403-8
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