Most Masks Allow 90 Percent of Exhaled Aerosols to Pass Thru--New Study

a reply to: dbates

The article is correct.

Excellent. The article says this:

“There is no question it is beneficial to wear any face covering, both for protection in close proximity and at a distance in a room,” says study leader Serhiy Yarusevych,

a reply to: Phage
Selective quoting.

Each level of masking provides some level of protection but that doesn't mean it would stop the virus.

Masks were never a solution to the virus. Masks were simply a temporary stop-gap to vaccination and herd immunity. They do a questionable job of slowing the spread but mask in of themselves do not stop COVID-19.

What The CDC Isn’t Telling You About Masks Is Terrifying

We can either mandate vaccination for the health of our nation or we can deal with Covid-19 by wearing masks for years to come.

I am not for a mandate to the vaccination but at least that route has proven results. The masks are pure theatre. Wear a mask when you walk inside and take it off when you sit down to eat seconds later in the same room.

originally posted by: IAMTAT
This was research from the University of Waterloo, testing aerosol droplets passing through different masks.
What it found was that the most commonly-used masks (cloth and surgical) are 90% ineffective at stopping exhaled aerosols which could carry virus.

Only N95 and KN95 masks showed any promise of being even remotely effective at stopping about 50% of exhaled aerosols.

Most face masks won’t stop COVID-19 indoors, study warns

WATERLOO, Ontario — N95 or KN95 face masks may be the best way to avoid COVID-19 during crowded indoor events. That’s the recommendation from a new study reporting most cloth masks just don’t do the job when it comes to stopping the spread of coronavirus within enclosed spaces.

Researchers from the University of Waterloo simulated a person breathing in a large room with a cloth face mask on. Despite wearing a mask, the study finds a large buildup of aerosol droplets suspended in the air.

Researchers theorize many people wear masks that don’t fit their face properly. As a result, many cloth and surgical masks only filter about 10 percent of exhaled aerosols. The rest make their way past the mask, most through the top, and spread into the surrounding environment. Conversely, higher-quality, more expensive N95 and KN95 masks filter over 50 percent of all aerosol droplets.

In light of these findings study authors recommend that everyone wear a N95 or KN95 mask if possible whenever indoors in the company of others.

www.studyfinds.org...
uwaterloo.ca...

The study also points out that, indoors, using 6 feet or more of social distancing between individuals makes no difference.

Studies continue to show that aerosols exhaled by infected individuals can indeed infect others with COVID-19, even if someone is standing more than six feet away.

Look, this doesn't take a laboratory or university study. I have worn every type of respiratory protection out there, I work in the environmental industry. Anyone who has two brain cells to rub together should realize this by now.

Go out in the winter and exhale through any "mask" of your choice and just look at the water vapor in the air. That water vapor is from your lungs, and guess what, water vapor are tiny droplets of water carrying COVID!!!! OMG!!!!!

Most people are just ignorant sheep, let them sleep peacefully thinking they are protected by a pair of cotton panties on their face.

a reply to: IAMTAT

Apologies if this has been posted before but I feel like very few people seem aware of this.

www.wired.com...

If one cannot read that without signing up here is another link that discusses the issue.

www.forbes.com...

"Where did the 5-micron figure come from? The source of the error was revealed in an as-yet unpublished study led by fluid dynamics researcher Lydia Bourouiba and history professor Thomas Ewing, thanks to the detective work of Ewing's graduate student, Katherine Randall.

That 'scientific screwup' was recently covered in Wired magazine. According to the story, it originates from the mid-20th century. After experiments by sanitary engineer William Firth Wells found that Tuberculosis is transmitted by particles under 5 microns, CDC scientists interpreted Wells' results out of context and generalized them into an assumption for how all airborne diseases spread."

a reply to: Zitterbewegung

This explains why Covid 19 still spread. It was airborne and masks did little or nothing to help.

Depends on what kind of mask. Home made cloths typically don't even stop bacteria. Blue surgical masks can't stop any virus. N95 mask can stop 90% of virus but all it takes is 1 virus to infect anyway.

a reply to: amazingexplorer

but all it takes is 1 virus to infect anyway.

Not really.
Infectious dose

a reply to: amazingexplorer

I'm talking about the type of masks the general population wear. I should have been more specific.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: amazingexplorer

but all it takes is 1 virus to infect anyway.

Not really.
Infectious dose

Theoretically, 1 virus can infect. Depends on how contagious it is. If every person wears mask, then virus will mutate and evolve and become more contagious to counter mask.

a reply to: amazingexplorer

If every person wears mask, then virus will mutate and evolve and become more contagious to counter mask.

That isn't really how mutation works. It doesn't occur in order to do anything in particular.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: amazingexplorer

If every person wears mask, then virus will mutate and evolve and become more contagious to counter mask.

That isn't really how mutation works. It doesn't occur in order to do anything in particular.

Mutation is just another form of evolution - which is a direct response to surroundings. Of all the possible mutations the one likely to flourish is the one that evades the countermeasures to its productivity.

Masks are a joke in regards to preventing covid transmission and just about everyone knows it. Especially the masks most people wear on a daily basis, either cloth of some kind or the cheap blue rectangular ones.

The problem with discussions on this topic is one of semantics. People love to say that masks prevent the transmission of covid. What they mean is masks may prevent the transmission of covid. The only mask that will prevent the transmission of covid is an N95 mask. But even that will only work if it is worn properly. Look around the next time you are near a bunch of people wearing masks. Do you see all the open gaps around the edges? That is one of the reasons masks don't work.

The covid virus is small. Really small. That cotton mask most people are wearing these days is made of a woven fabric. The interstices of the fabric are thousands of times larger than a virus cell. Wearing a cotton mask to prevent the transmission of covid is like using a chain link fence to keep bugs out of your yard. Yes, there is a chance a bug will fly into the chain and knock itself stupid, but most of the bugs will make it through without touching anything. So yes, you can say wearing a mask 'helps' prevent the spread of covid. But to be accurate you should probably say that wearing a cheap mask, or an N95 incorrectly, may prevent slightly fewer cases of transmission compared to a person who does not wear a mask at all. If "slightly fewer" is good enough you have to wonder how dangerous this pandemic really is.

TPTB know the cloth masks, the cheap blue rectangles, the plastic face shields, the bandanas, etc, are pathetically insufficient at preventing the transmission of covid. They also know that vaccination does not prevent infection/reinfection or transmission of the virus. The two main methods extolled as the best means of "controlling" this virus are largely ineffective and everyone knows it. Yet we persist in this charade day after day, and it appears, year after year.

At some point you have to ask yourself why...

originally posted by: Vroomfondel
Masks are a joke in regards to preventing covid transmission and just about everyone knows it. Especially the masks most people wear on a daily basis, either cloth of some kind or the cheap blue rectangular ones.

The problem with discussions on this topic is one of semantics. People love to say that masks prevent the transmission of covid. What they mean is masks may prevent the transmission of covid. The only mask that will prevent the transmission of covid is an N95 mask. But even that will only work if it is worn properly. Look around the next time you are near a bunch of people wearing masks. Do you see all the open gaps around the edges? That is one of the reasons masks don't work.

The covid virus is small. Really small. That cotton mask most people are wearing these days is made of a woven fabric. The interstices of the fabric are thousands of times larger than a virus cell. Wearing a cotton mask to prevent the transmission of covid is like using a chain link fence to keep bugs out of your yard. Yes, there is a chance a bug will fly into the chain and knock itself stupid, but most of the bugs will make it through without touching anything. So yes, you can say wearing a mask 'helps' prevent the spread of covid. But to be accurate you should probably say that wearing a cheap mask, or an N95 incorrectly, may prevent slightly fewer cases of transmission compared to a person who does not wear a mask at all. If "slightly fewer" is good enough you have to wonder how dangerous this pandemic really is.

TPTB know the cloth masks, the cheap blue rectangles, the plastic face shields, the bandanas, etc, are pathetically insufficient at preventing the transmission of covid. They also know that vaccination does not prevent infection/reinfection or transmission of the virus. The two main methods extolled as the best means of "controlling" this virus are largely ineffective and everyone knows it. Yet we persist in this charade day after day, and it appears, year after year.

At some point you have to ask yourself why...

N95 mask won't stop transmission. The covid is all over their faces. The second they take off N95, guess what, bacteria, covid, other viruses all over their faces enter nose and mouth and infect.

a reply to: Vroomfondel

Yep masks and social distancing was pretty much useless. I've thought from day one. People with preexisting conditions and worried about Covid 19 should have isolated. The governments could have helped those individuals out with necessities and access to safe healthcare. The shutdowns were unnecessary.

a reply to: amazingexplorer

Its more fingertips than anything else. The virus wont move by itself. If its on your forehead when you have a mask on, its still there when you take the mask off. Now if you touch your forehead, then touch a mucous membrane or other path to the bloodstream, different story.

One of the things that really angers me is how little people think about what they are doing when they try to "be safe". I cant tell you how many times I have seen people take a wipe and some kind of disinfectant at a grocery store and wipe across the top of a shopping cart handle. But they never wipe the underside of that same handle. The leading edge of your palm touches the top of the handle. Your fingertips touch the underside of the handle. Which part of your hand are you more likely to use to scratch your nose, rub your eyes, etc. The tip of your fingers or the part of your palm where the fingers attach to the hand?

originally posted by: TheAMEDDDoc
a reply to: neutronflux
That’s how stupid people are, they believe a mask will prevent infection, they believe a vaccine or prior infection will prevent future infection.

One minor correction - it actually isn't stupid to believe that a prior infection will mostly prevent future infection (or at least serious response)...

Florida Governor DeSantis tells these young folks to take the damn masks off before he begins speaking.

Beautiful!: twitter.com...