The ever-present message from news outlets, government officials from the top down, and peer pressure is that Worldwide we all must wear a mask to prevent the spread of Covid 19. There is compelling evidence that the most common materials used in their fabrication have pore sizes much larger than viruses thus not particularly effective. The analogy referred to is to think of throwing sand at a chain-link fence. Apparently, this has become common knowledge, thus a recent push to wear 2 masks simultaneously. Personal hygiene and immune improvement through diet and supplementation have all but disappeared from the dispensed advice.
The push for masks has been so effective that billions have been distributed and the numbers continue to grow. The vast majority are disposable and carelessly discarded as evidenced in parking lots, parks, and along roadways. This issue goes way beyond litter and affects our health and the food chain.
The most popular materials used to manufacture masks are cotton, polypropylene, and polyester with the last two being manmade plastic materials. The manmade materials are processed into microfibers for maximum filtration efficacy. This processing is responsible for microfibers getting into our water and food as the masks degrade. The primary effect in humans is the disruption of intestinal chemistry plus the unknown long-term exposure to slowly dissolving polymers in our gut. Environmentalists have now concluded that these particular microfibers are further degrading to Nanoparticles which plausibly causes uptake into the bloodstream.
What to do? The damage is done, so changes in mask material or disposal regulations will not change things because of lead times and delays. The only thing that can be done is to filter the drinking water in your home and the only filtration process that can remove harmful water particulates down to Nanosize is reverse osmosis. Add this situation to the ever-growing list of actual or potential health-compromising items in our drinking water that a functioning reverse osmosis unit can remove. Bottled water is NOT the answer.
