Medical Science: COVID-19 - What’s in Your Mask?

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Category: Medical Science

Published on Friday, 01 September 2023 12:53

Written by Dr. Jane M. Orient, M.D.,

Hospitalizations for Covid has risen exponentially over the past six weeks, if you are planning to pull out your mask again as some jurisdictions consider new mandates, you might want to ask what in your mask?

As the graph below illustrates.

The figure comes from a South Korean study shared on the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) website. The sample with the highest amount of TVOCs had 4,808 cubic meters per microgram, which is about 4.8 parts per million--more than eight times the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) recommended limit of 0.5 parts per million in indoor air. Tight-fitting disposable masks are much worse than cotton masks.

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Actual health effects are not known, but people forced to wear masks for prolonged periods of time frequently complain of symptoms such as headaches and nausea, which TVOCs can cause.

Some TVOCs can cause central nervous system or liver damage, and even cancer."Exposure can be significantly reduced if a mask is opened and left to sit for at least 30 min," the researchers wrote.Masks vary. Has yours been tested?

Do the masks even work? Industrial hygienists say they do not; at best they reduce risk by 1%. Engineering controls are needed. And for serious exposures in medical settings, a PAPR (powered air-purifying respirator) is needed.

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If you are fretting over "forever chemicals," the ones trapped next to your nose and mouth should be your first concern.

Additional information:

• Mask facts, curated by anesthesiologist Marilyn Singleton, M.D., J.D.
• Masking inconsistencies, risks, and benefits
• Engineering controls

Jane M. Orient, M.D. obtained her undergraduate degrees in chemistry and mathematics from the University of Arizona in Tucson, and her M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1974. She completed an internal medicine residency at Parkland Memorial Hospital and University of Arizona Affiliated Hospitals and then became an Instructor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and a staff physician at the Tucson Veterans Administration Hospital. She has been in solo private practice since 1981 and has served as Executive Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) since 1989.

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She is currently president of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness. She is the author of YOUR Doctor Is Not In: Healthy Skepticism about National Healthcare, and the second through fifth editions of Sapira's Art and Science of Bedside Diagnosis published by Wolters Kluwer. She authored books for school children, Professor Klugimkopf's Old-Fashioned English Grammar and Professor Klugimkopf's Spelling Method, published by Robinson Books, and coauthored two novels published as Kindle books, Neomorts and Moonshine. 

More than 100 of her papers have been published in the scientific and popular literature on a variety of subjects including risk assessment, natural and technological hazards and non-hazards, and medical economics and ethics. She is the editor of AAPS News, the Doctors for Disaster Preparedness Newsletter, and Civil Defense Perspectives, and is the managing editor of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons.

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If you would like to discuss these issues, contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Jane M. Orient, M.D., Executive Director, Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.