Face masks minimise airborne infections and effects of smoke, microplastics, and dust

In most countries in Africa, wearing face masks was popularised by the Covid-19 pandemic, which necessitated their use as a preventive measure.

Globally too, the use of face masks was particularly confined within hospital premises, with the exception of East Asian countries, where the use of face masks has been commonplace for a good number of years.

In China, for example, the use of face masks is traced back to around 1910 and is linked, according to researchers, to both pandemic and visual (biopolitical) history, particularly the plague of Manchuria in 1910, which killed about 60,000 people.

It was one of the preventive measures against the airborne plague, alongside other methods like cremation of infected bodies and quarantining. They were referred to as ‘anti-plague masks’ (Justine Rochot, Picturing Covered Faces: A Brief Visual History of Face Masks in Modern China, 2020).

In our time, face masks have left a lasting memory of the pandemic; they symbolise the shared experience around the world. We particularly have to talk about this now because the need for face masks is not confined to a particular time or a particular disease. We always needed them but did not have the supply (and for many, even the idea).

I remember always needing something like a mask whenever I helped to prepare the farm, work in a dusty area, pass around a smoky neighbourhood, etc., but there was none.

I also remember volunteering to visit patients in hospitals, including TB patients, yet even at the hospital, masks were not provided to keep us safe. The safety measures we had were to avoid contact, to stand a bit farther, and to wash our hands.

Today we ought to look at facemasks as a relevant solution to many problems we already had. There is a rise now in vehicles and production factories in urban areas, proportionate to the rise in smoke emissions.

Smoke from factories contains poisonous gases, which can cause respiratory problems, including lung cancer, even though the harm is not felt immediately. Experts have established that standard face masks, like N95, can filter even fine particles in smoke (FDA, N95 Respirators, Surgical Masks, Face Masks, and Barrier Face Coverings, 2023).

With the rise in industrialisation and urbanisation, the air quality too does not remain the same, hence the need to take more preventive measures. Equally, while statistics on air quality are ambiguous, it is more important to rely on our personal experience, especially for people with health problems already, such as children, expectant mothers, and the elderly.

Research also establishes that face masks, used correctly and within their time, can be of great help in minimising the number of microplastics that we inhale. According to the American National Centre for Biotechnology Information, masks reduce exposure, particularly the N95 mask, whose quality was tested and proved (NCBI: Article no.: PMC7773316).

In its 2022 publication on Dietary and Inhalation Exposure to Nano- and Microplastic Particles, the World Health Organisation (WHO) referred to microplastics as ‘emerging contaminants.’ This means it is a new health concern, especially in connection to the 2019 research on microplastics in the drinking water cycle, even after intense purification.

This is a call for action, especially for those who live in cities where huge populations create higher risks of exposure to airborne diseases and infections, where there is a lot of smoke from waste burning and manufacturing factories, poisonous industrial and vehicle emissions, and dust.

We can recall that in 2021, the National Environment Management Council (NEMC) had to suspend production activities at the Wazo Hill plant of the TPCC (Twiga Cement) company because of air pollution caused by dust discharge.

Many factories endanger the lives of the people, which necessitates the need for preventive measures like these. Locally, policies, guidelines, and matters of air pollution are handled by the NEMC.

While many may face an economic constraint in buying facemasks often, as even N95 masks are recommended to be used only up to five times, there is always the option of re-usable masks, mostly made locally from fabrics.

In Tanzania, the quality of effective reusable masks has already been researched by the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS).

These four important guidelines from TBS can help anyone ensure that they have a good-quality reusable fabric facemask: First: ‘Reusable fabric face masks shall be manufactured from cotton, poly-cotton, or polypropylene fibre materials.

Coated fabric materials shall not be used.’ Second: ‘The reusable fabric face mask shall have three layers: the innermost layer, the outermost layer, and the middle layer.’ Third: The reusable fabric face mask shall be free from defects that affect their appearance and serviceability, free from marks, holes, spots, or stains incurred in the making up.’

Fourth: ‘The reusable fabric face mask shall not disintegrate, split, or tear during intended use and shall be made of three-layer fabrics.’ (Publication: TBS: TDC9(678) P3.)

Collectively, we all ought to help each other preserve their health, especially young ones and those in vulnerable conditions. Our health education from primary school should teach about the immediate health dangers that children experience every day, including exposure to airborne pollutants, risks of airborne diseases and infections, and effective preventive measures thereof.

Shimbo Pastory is an advocate for positive social transformation. He writes from Manila, the Philippines. Email: [email protected]; WhatsApp: +639951661979.