goodaim said:
338lapua said:
Sportsmans in north Phoenix had a line of 20+ when I was there. Only one douche wearing a mask that I saw.
Hi why is it wrong to wear a mask?
IF you want to wear a mask, wear a mask...couldn't give an F either way. It is usually the masked people making the remarks. But if you need some science, please enjoy yourself to some studies listed below.
Saying that wearing a mask is about compassion is meant to guilt you into doing something that for most is not necessary. Why not educate folks about masks, which has not been done. Compassion is about educating people and then letting them decide
N95 masks for which professionals are fit tested provide significant protection. Surgical masks of a certain type provide some level of protection, but that decreases as standard/quality of the mask decreases. Cloth masks provide marginal to zero real protection. This does vary based on the material used to create the mask.
The idea of a cloth mask was born out of a concern that N95 or protective surgical masks would run short. A 2010 study (1) using regularly available cloth determined that cotton masks were nearly 97% penetrable immediately by small viruses. We also learned that any gaps in the masks decreased protection by 50%. So, if the mask is 3% effective with a perfect seal, the rate of effectiveness in theory would drop to 1.5% when not sealed properly.
I completely understand the theory behind recommending people wear a mask. However, when we assess the theory versus the reality of regular people donning masks in public we find that the largest majority do not fit, are not being worn properly, and have been rendered wholly ineffective. My concerns are echoed by others who are medically and/or scientifically trained i.e. masks worn by nontrained people using alternative materials not properly fitted to their face are not effective. In fact, they may provide a false sense of security that could lead to increased spread not decreased.
I encourage people to understand the limitations of cloth masks as well as lesser surgical masks and make your own decision. If after researching the data you decide that wearing a mask is something you should do, then you should absolutely wear one and no one should ridicule you for your decision. However, if after researching the data you decide that wearing a mask is something you do not need to do, then you should not wear one and should not be shamed for your decision.
1) Samy Rengasamy, Benjamin Eimer, Ronald E. Shaffer, Simple Respiratory Protection—Evaluation of the Filtration Performance of Cloth Masks and Common Fabric Materials Against 20–1000 nm Size Particles, The Annals of Occupational Hygiene, Volume 54, Issue 7, October 2010, Pages 789–798, https://doi.org/10.1093/annhyg/meq044
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20584862/
"There is no specific evidence to suggest that the wearing of masks by the mass population has any potential benefit. In fact, there's some evidence to suggest the opposite in the misuse of wearing a mask properly or fitting it properly." - WHO
“A 2010 study using regularly available cloth determined that cotton masks were nearly 97% penetrable immediately by small viruses.”
Samy Rengasamy, Benjamin Eimer, Ronald E. Shaffer, Simple Respiratory Protection—Evaluation of the Filtration Performance of Cloth Masks and Common Fabric Materials Against 20–1000 nm Size Particles, The Annals of Occupational Hygiene, Volume 54, Issue 7, October 2010, Pages 789 798, https://doi.org/10.1093/annhyg/meq044
https://academic.oup.com/annweh/article/54/7/789/202744
“2020 study showed significantly better protection from cloth masks than the above 2010 study. One caveat, the better protection in the 2020 study was provided by silk, chiffon, and tightly woven cotton with batting.”
Aerosol Filtration Efficiency of Common Fabrics Used in Respiratory Cloth Masks
Abhiteja Konda, Abhinav Prakash, Gregory A. Moss, Michael Schmoldt, Gregory D. Grant, and Supratik Guha
ACS Nano 2020 14 (5), 6339-6347
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsnano.0c03252
“Although surgical mask media may be adequate to remove bacteria exhaled or expelled by health care workers, they may not be sufficient to remove the submicrometer-size aerosols containing pathogens to which these health care workers are potentially exposed.”
Chen CC, Willeke K. Aerosol penetration through surgical masks. Am J Infect Control. 1992;20(4):177‐184. doi:10.1016/s0196-6553(05)80143-9
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1524265/
Penetration of cloth masks by particles was almost 97% and medical masks 44%....the results caution against the use of cloth masks. This is an important finding to inform occupational health and safety. Moisture retention, reuse of cloth masks and poor filtration may result in increased risk of infection.
MacIntyre CR, Seale H, Dung TC, et al
A cluster randomised trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers
BMJ Open 2015;5:e006577. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006577
https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/5/4/e006577.full.pdf