In recent times there has been an increasing publication of studies indicating that not only do the standard surgical style face masks fail to stop disease transition, and infection, being largely good for particle protection, but that masks have adverse effects, in themselves. A Germany study has indicated that wearing masks for long periods of time increases carbon dioxide exposure in the body. This in turn has a wide range of ill-health effects, and it does not take long, for wearing masks for more than 5 minutes can lead to chronic exposure of carbon dioxide of 1.41% to 3.2% of inhaled air, while the carbon dioxide content of air is only 0.04% carbon dioxide. The adverse effects include foetal defects and still births, neurotoxicity, and damage to the male reproductive system.
https://nakedemperor.substack.com/p/wearing-masks-can-increase-the-risk
“Another study has raised concerns about the potential risks associated with prolonged mask-wearing, particularly in vulnerable populations such as pregnant women, children, and adolescents. Weird how none of these studies came out when mask mandates were in force.
The German study conducted by Kai Kisielinski et al. suggests that prolonged mask-wearing may lead to increased carbon dioxide (CO2) exposure, which could have toxic effects on human health. They say fresh air has around 0.04% CO2 while wearing masks for more than 5 minutes can lead to chronic exposure of CO2 of 1.41% to 3.2% of inhaled air.
Some of the potential risks identified in animal studies included:
- Fetal defects and still births
- Just 0.5% carbon dioxide for a few minutes to an hour per day is capable of inducing stillbirths and birth defects in guinea pigs.
- The US Navy became aware of this level as it is often exceeded on submarines so they conducted their own experiments with rats. A 3% CO2 toxicity was observed in pregnant dams. After this experiment the Navy set exposure limits for female crew at 0.8% CO2.
- Neurotoxicity
- Pregnant rats with an exposure of 0.3% CO2 gave birth to pups with reduced spatial learning and memory. This was attributed to damaged neurons in the part of the brain called the hippocampus. This damage is irreversible and affects mental health in the long term.
- At 0.1% CO2 the pups demonstrated increased anxiety which was more pronounced at 0.3%.
- It also caused oxidative stress causing DNA fragmentation. This causes mitochondrial damage and ultimately cell death.
- Another study exposed adolescent mice to 0.3% CO2 24 hours a day for 7 weeks. Compared with the control group, the rats were unable to learn at the same rate and were left with an irreversible loss of neurons.
- Male reproductive toxicity
- Adolescent rats exposed to 2.5% CO2 for 4 hours showed signs of diminished fertility.
- There was marked damage to testes function.
The authors note that small laboratory animals have been evolutionary adapted to living in burrows and caves and are therefore limited as indicators for CO2 since they are much less sensitive to it than humans. But there are very few human studies so animal studies are all we have.
Furthermore, the studies are not always representative of real-world settings where masks can be worn all day in some cases.
Another thing that wasn’t looked at is that the CO2 content of the breathing air behind the mask may also lead to a displacement of oxygen. This can additionally lead to other complications such as spinal malformations due to hypoxia.
They conclude that “there is circumstantial evidence that popular mask use may be related to current observations of a significant rise of 28% to 33% in stillbirths worldwide and a reduced verbal, motor, and overall cognitive performance of two full standard deviations in scores in children born during the pandemic”.
https://www.cell.com/heliyon/pdf/S2405-8440(23)01324-5.pdf
ABSTRACT Introduction: During the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic, face masks have become one of the most important ubiquitous factors affecting human breathing. It increases the resistance and dead space volume leading to a re-breathing of CO2. So far, this phenomenon and possible implications on early life has not been evaluated in depth. Method: As part of a scoping review, literature was systematically reviewed regarding CO2 exposure and facemask use. Results: Fresh air has around 0.04% CO2, while wearing masks more than 5 min bears a possible chronic exposure to carbon dioxide of 1.41% to 3.2% of the inhaled air. Although the buildup is usually within the short-term exposure limits, long-term exceedances and consequences must be considered due to experimental data. US Navy toxicity experts set the exposure limits for submarines carrying a female crew to 0.8% CO2 based on animal studies which indicated an increased risk for stillbirths. Additionally, mammals who were chronically exposed to 0.3% CO2 the experimental data demonstrate a teratogenicity with irreversible neuron damage in the offspring, reduced spatial learning caused by brainstem neuron apoptosis and reduced circulating levels of the insulin-like growth factor-1. With significant impact on three readout parameters (morphological, functional, marker) this chronic 0.3% CO2 exposure has to be defined as being toxic. Additional data exists on the exposure of chronic 0.3% CO2 in adolescent mammals causing neuron destruction, which includes less activity, increased anxiety and impaired learning and memory. There is also data indicating testicular toxicity in adolescents at CO2 inhalation concentrations above 0.5%. Discussion: There is a possible negative impact risk by imposing extended mask mandates especially for vulnerable subgroups. Circumstantial evidence exists that extended mask use may be related to current observations of stillbirths and to reduced verbal motor and overall cognitive performance in children born during the pandemic. A need exists to reconsider mask mandates.”