nk15

I have a serious question about mask safety. A lot of surgical masks, KN95, etc available online, and 2.5 particulate filters available online intended to be inserted in various cloth or other masks, we don't know where and how they were made, there is a lot of discussion of homemade and counterfeits. My concern is not as much as filtering efficiency but rather safety of breathing in of whatever that mask or filter material they are made of. In other words, I am reluctant to breath in for 8 hours any material of unknown origin, possibly made with some kind of a knock off carcinogenic material or substance for a quick profit. Any thoughts and solutions?

Similar question for cloth masks. How do we know if whatever fabric we use is safe to breath in for 8 hours? These were made for wearing on your body, not breathing them in for 8 hours.

Loren Pechtel

Everyone seems to have misunderstood me. I was responding to a post comparing the effectiveness of fabric vs N95 and I was questioning how it could possibly be as good at the edges. I'm aware of the basics of testing N95 fit, I'm not talking about them.

FlyBitcoin

More great primary source material in favor of universal masks in public...
https://science.sciencemag.org/conte...c6197.full.pdf

chrisl137

They won't seal at the edges like an N95, but if they're wide and come far back and flat on your cheek and have a wire over your nose you make the impedance high enough that you're pulling much (maybe even most) of your air through the mask. You probably won't get that with an earloop mask, but probably can with a tie-behind. I've been thinking I should take apart one of my tie-behind duckbill masks to make a pattern for cloth masks with ties, but I've been lazy about it because I haven't been going out enough where I need a mask to worry much about it. I'll eventually get custom fabric printed, too, with plague-themed paintings on the fronts of the masks. There are some custom fabric printers that are inexpensive and fast, and I saw the same ACS paper that FlyingBitcoin linked to and figure two layers of 600 ct cotton plus a synthetic cosmetic layer would be reasonable.

LonghornDXB

Please... this is not the right question for such times.

We are living in the "wear masks" era, so wear whatever you can, and stop caring about any possible side effects as you will be called selfish. You just have to "wear masks and show respect" as Governor Cuomo has been demanding
In the city I live in, laws state that people have to wear their masks in their gyms, so running on a treadmill or lifting weights have to be done wearing masks. Any question on whether that may cause health effects is being met by angry cries online of being selfish and how it is "far more comfortable to wear a mask for 8 hours than lie dying with a ventilator"...….

I think Cuomo is right, it is more about "respect" and virtue signaling, and less about actual benefits and harmful effects to the wearer.

We are living in a South Park episode, and any concern for one's own self (or of issues like delayed cancer screenings, breathlessness when wearing masks, objecting to being sprayed with chemicals) is enough for one to be tagged selfish by the mob

To clear the record; I am actually wearing masks when out, the reason I am salty about them is we are now forced to wear them every minute we step outside our homes, including in office desks for some companies, when driving cars with our families in them, in gyms, when jogging outside our homes and so on

boerne

oops sorry.

kids are flying JetBlue today. Will report back about masks on their flight.

ahmetdouas

It's funny how each country is applying this differently, in the UK there is nowhere it is mandatory to wear masks so I have managed never to wear one at any point during the pandemic. My luck may run out when I start flying again with Lufthansa group as they have the rule well into August, but you can have a scarf so I will just use my sweater like a scarf to get around the requirement.

narvik

I certainly would have liked to have worn a mask on QR818 (HKG-DOH) on May 16 and May 20:



(from https://www.chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/flights_trains_en.pdf)

fransknorge

I find fascinating how someone can be proud to not do something that would protect others. I guess that is like looking into the mind of a sociopath.

8420PR

The UK Government recommends using a mask or face covering, based on the science that it can protect others if you are infected but not showing symptoms.

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...face-coverings

My guess would be that as soon as the Government has secured enough respirator masks for medical and care personal they will make covering your face mandatory in scenarios where social distancing is not possible.

FlyBitcoin

Because some people cannot seem to wrap their head around the concept of asymptomatic spread.
They just KNOW that they are not sick.

Minimizing the facts means that one is still early in the stages of grief regarding this virus and how it will change society for an undetermined yet finite amount of time. They are still at Denial or Anger, not Acceptance.

ahmetdouas

No; the UK recently changed the advice anyway saying it is recommended in certain cases, but the evidence is not strong enough to make it a law to do so. It has nothing to do with medical supplies because they say anyway that people normally should make a homemade one, or wear a scarf. I have no issues with others wearing masks if it makes them comfortable, but unless I am forced to, I will not be wearing one or a scarf for that matter. If I am coughing or sick or test positive for the virus, it's not like I would want to be outdoors or travelling anyway.

Each airline seems to be applying the rules differently; but it seems most of them want you to wear a covering on a plane, although I see that British Airways does not need you to wear one unless the airport you are in forces you to wear one, and LHR does not do so. Neither does Zurich Airport, but it seems Swiss is following the Lufthansa rule of face coverings, Germany being much more strict than Switzerland regarding face coverings in general.

estnet

so you entirely miss the point!!!!
You can be contagious before you feel sick!

People who don't know they're sick infect others.

ahmetdouas

Luckily the virus is on it's way out; and should it come back, I would hope that there would be a vaccine or a test that is so easy that every person travelling would get one at the airport with results in seconds!

It was funny that on the UK government briefings that Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van Tam said when asked about why in Asia facemasks are so prevalent even without COVID, that it was wired into their culture.

I think the mask thing is getting a bit political; if there was absolute medical proof of its importance for asymptomatic cases, the WHO and every country in the world would make it mandatory; but as we can see that is very far from the case even in the middle of the pandemic.

rickg523

Please review the illustration accompanying post #798 . You do realize of course that you'll be infectious for a few days before you feel sick. And that every person who has died of Covid was infected by someone who let the virus get past their face.
Thanks for your cooperation in trying to contain this highly contagious virus.