Why I Won't Wear a Mask: Science
May 17, 2020 1:16pm
Many businesses are requiring customers to wear masks while on their premises. Some governments have mandated full-time mask use everywhere outside a private home. Social shaming of the maskless by fearful mask wearers with a severe case of moral superiority is rampant. Acts of violence, including deaths, have resulted from disagreements over the use of masks. But I won’t wear one. Why?
My reason for going maskless is not due to a sense of medical invincibility, indifference to public health, or defiance of authority. It is because I refuse to participate in unnecessary and unscientific feel-good theater. Non-medical cloth masks are one step above useless in preventing the spread of the COVID-19 Coronavirus.
Even a properly fitted N95 mask only blocks 95% of particles larger than 0.3 microns in size. For perspective, the COVID-19 Coronavirus is approximately three times smaller than that at 0.12 microns. So N95s prevent passage of a little less than 95% of the Coronavirus particles. Cloth masks block less than 4%.
In addition to the very low filtration rate of air moving THROUGH cloth, the air leaking AROUND the cloth has a filtration rate of zero. Next time you're wearing a mask, check the gaps at the chin, cheeks, and below the eyes. You'll find there is a lot of air going around the cloth not through it. Mask wearers with glasses often complain that their glasses get fogged up. Why is that? Because the warm, moist, exhaled breath is escaping through the massive gap at the top of the mask and causing condensation on the lenses. That gap is not filtering any air at all.
The efficacy of non-medical, cloth masks has been studied in a randomized control test that concluded almost 97% of influenza-like particles penetrated the cloth masks. Influenza viruses and the COVID-19 Coronavirus are of similar size. That study further cautioned against the use of cloth masks because moisture retention, poor filtration, and reuse may result in an increased risk of infection.
While masks are nearly useless in protecting its wearer from the Coronavirus, they might be somewhat - albeit marginally - helpful in containing virus-laden droplets that are expelled by an infected person's coughs and sneezes. Well, I'm not currently coughing or sneezing; and I have made it a point to always cover my coughs and sneezes long before this pandemic began. There is no reason for me to wear a mask today.
Most transmissions of respiratory viruses occur via indirect physical contact between infected surfaces and the mucous membranes of our mouths, noses, and eyes; not through inhalation. So, just like with the seasonal flu, we should avoid touching our faces - or at least have very clean hands if we do touch our faces. Frequent hand sanitizing significantly reduces the risk of infection.
Paradoxically, evidence suggests that people actually touch their faces more often when wearing a mask than when not wearing one. Masks can also create a false sense of security which causes reduced attention to other safety protocols.
The single most beneficial step we can take to prevent catching or spreading the Coronavirus is to clean our hands frequently. I now carry a small spray bottle of 70% isopropyl alcohol, which I use to sanitize my hands repeatedly whenever I am outside my home. And I am certain that does far more to prevent an infection than what most of the arrogant, holier-than-thou mask wearers who denounce me are doing.
I'm obviously aware that the CDC has recommended we wear masks in public. But they have said nothing about the effectiveness of doing so. Why not? Because it isn't effective! The wearing of masks in public is just feel-good theater to give people a sense that they're doing something meaningful even though they're not. If the mesh of a cloth mask has openings that are 1000 times bigger than the virus, how will it filter the virus? It's the equivalent of thinking you can keep mosquitoes out of your yard by installing a chain link fence.
Since there is a lot of false information circulating on the internet that gets posted without attribution plus a lot of opinions based on nothing but feelings, I provide my data sources below. You can read them yourself to easily verify the information I used to form my opinion that wearing a mask is medically pointless. Note that they are all legitimate medical institutions. You can disagree with my opinion all you want. But you can't dispute my facts.
"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts." - Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY)
SOURCES:
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/personal-protective-equipment-infection-control/n95-respirators-and-surgical-masks-face-masks#s3
National Center for Biotechnology Information, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25903751/?from_term=cloth+masks+infection+control&from_sort=date&from_page=2&from_pos=7&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiT1dNME1tWmxNVEV6WTJabCIsInQiOiJxSHhBZUhrQUR5TW41STdaOHZcL0J1MDZoTjVrd1hkN1NjWHNrbHNNeVp2dmRETFFkcnV4QjFyNVZ1NkNVb3JoMXBSOW4wMGxtZjNKc2UwdXlTOHJsbkRqaldhNXN3QXRwdWJoOVV0Z0hyWFI5SVVlZEJkXC9FUFJMSkU2NDk2enVmIn0%3D
National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, https://www.nap.edu/read/13006/chapter/3#9
Annals of Internal Medicine, https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-1342
Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation, https://www.apsf.org/news-updates/perioperative-considerations-for-the-2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19/
EBSCO Health, https://health.ebsco.com/blog/article/covid-19-ten-things-you-need-to-know
Mayo Clinic, https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/covid-19-mayo-clinic-expert-answers-questions-about-masks-after-cdc-updates-its-recommendation/
MedPage Today, https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/85814
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/viruses/index.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/disease/respiratoryic.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html
World Health Organization, https://www.who.int/infection-prevention/en/
World Health Organization, https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/modes-of-transmission-of-virus-causing-covid-19-implications-for-ipc-precaution-recommendations
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, https://epi.dph.ncdhhs.gov/cd/diseases/respiratory.html
Southern Nevada Health District, https://www.southernnevadahealthdistrict.org/wp-content/uploads/snhd_covid19_mask.pdf
Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, https://afmc.org/afmc-healthspot/9-best-ways-prevent-infections/
Johns Hopkins Medicine, https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_ABX_Guide/540747/all/Coronavirus_COVID_19__SARS_CoV_2_
Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/04/commentary-masks-all-covid-19-not-based-sound-data
Infection Control Today, https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/personal-protective-equipment/studies-stir-new-debate-about-influenza-virus-size-transmission-risk