With mask mandates back in force in hospitals in South Australia and Western Australia, it is timely to review the harms that masks do; the case against masks in terms of their inefficiency in stopping the transmission of viruses was documented by numerous studies. However, this debate has focussed largely upon the surgical masks people tend to wear.
The higher grade N95 masks are a problem as well, as wearers are exposed to dangerous levels of chemicals. A South Korean study has found that the chemicals released by the N95 masks occurred at levels eight times the recommended safety limit for toxic volatile organic compounds (TVOCs). These chemicals have been linked to cancer. The disposable blue masks contain up to 14 times the level of TVOCs. And, these are the masks that our governments forced us, including children, to wear for months on end. We do not know how this will end as the cancers may take many years to develop.