Why Everyone should be Exempt from wearing a mask. 

Loose particles in mask may lead to pulmonary disease

I was born in Huddersfield, a town where the chief industries were engineering and textile manufacture. My dad worked in one of the many factories and the valleys were replete with woollen mills.

Whilst there can be no doubt that chemical and/or metallic fibres would have been present in the factories, which would have been breathed in by those working in them, often to the detriment of the workers’ respiratory health, this brief article will be focusing on the mills for the purposes of a comparison to the effect of wearing a fabric mask and its effects on the lungs. 

Back in 1984 I had a summer job working for Tower Spinning Company near Crosland Moor, Huddersfield which was a mill engaged in the manufacture of woollen yarn. When you went up to the floors which housed the spinning machinery, the air was replete with particles of fabric and dust which hung in the air. Some of the workers would be working 12 shifts in such an atmosphere. Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that,

“When textile workers were exposed to organic dusts from textiles in the workplace, both reversible and irreversible pulmonary conditions, such as asthma and COPD developed.”

As the attached study states, wearing a mask causes “high inspiratory flow” – i.e those individuals are breathing harder. This logically means that the individual will be breathing in whatever lies in the mask. 

From this, the question arises, how secure are the fibres, debris and other particulates attached to cloth masks?

“Research on synthetic fibres has shown a correlation between the inhalation of synthetic fibres and various bronchopulmonary diseases, such as asthma, alveolitis, chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis, fibrosis, spontaneous pneumothorax and chronic pneumonia.  Cellular proliferation made up of histiocytes and fibroblasts were found in the lungs of those exposed to synthetic fibres in ambient air.  Focal lesions in the lungs showed granulomas and collagen fibres containing both fine dust and long fibres.  Some of the lung illnesses from this exposure could be reversed, while others had already proceeded to pulmonary fibrosis.”

The study shows the fibres and deposits in the masks people are wearing, sometimes for visiting shops and sometimes in their places of work are not secure. People who wear them frequently touch or adjust them are in fact breathing in tiny particles of fibres that can lead to lung infection, with pulmonary fibrosis being a real danger.

“Research on synthetic fibers has shown a correlation between the inhalation of synthetic fibers and various bronchopulmonary diseases, such as asthma, alveolitis, chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis, fibrosis, spontaneous pneumothorax and chronic pneumonia.  Cellular proliferation made up of histiocytes and fibroblasts were found in the lungs of those exposed to synthetic fibers in ambient air.  Focal lesions in the lungs showed granulomas and collagen fibers containing both fine dust and long fibers.  Some of the lung illnesses from this exposure could be reversed, while others had already proceeded to pulmonary fibrosis.”

The report’s conclusions are stark:

“Surgical personnel are trained to never touch any part of a mask, except the loops and the nose bridge.Otherwise, the mask is considered useless and is to be replaced.Surgical personnel are strictly trained not to touch their masks otherwise.However, the general public may be seen touching various parts of their masks.Even the masks just removed from manufacturer packaging have been shown in the above photos to contain particulate and fiber that would not be optimal to inhale.

 

Both cotton and polymer clothing have been well-tolerated without pathology when covering any other part of the body, except over the only entry points/gateway to the respiratory system.Inhalation risks, such as the constant ventilation of the respiratory process, increased by the greater effort to attempt to fulfill bodily oxygen needs, with mostly and closely covered orifices are of great concern for those who would want to protect pulmonary health, without inhalation of unwanted particulate.

 

When partial airway obstruction, i.e. masking, is added, deeper and more forceful breathing occurs.When this phenomenon is combined with the particles found herein on microscopic examination of the face side of newly unpackaged, never worn masks, there can arise the risk of a dangerous level of foreign material entering lung tissue. Furthermore, worn masks can only either lose these particles to lodge in the lungs of the wearer, or they would accumulate during use, to the burden (both biological and debris) of non-mask material carried on the inside of the mask.

 

Further concerns of macrophage response and other immune and inflammatory and fibroblast response to such inhaled particles specifically from facemasks should be the subject of more research.

 

If widespread masking continues, then the potential for inhaling mask fibers and environmental and biological debris continues on a daily basis for hundreds of millions of people.This should be alarming for physicians and epidemiologists knowledgeable in occupational hazards.

Conclusion: the usage of masks is deleterious to one’s respiratory health, just as working in textile mills was conducive to people developing incurable lung disease.

On top of which, we should also be aware of the psychological impact of the mask on the younger generations:

Source: “Masks, false safety and real dangers, Part 1: Friable mask particulate and lung vulnerability” by Boris Borovoy, Colleen Huber, Q Makeeta.

Download the report: MasksfalsesafetyandrealdangersPart1.doc

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Special thanks to David R for his continued support.