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Covid-19 masks ‘cause plastic fibre inhalation – but we should still use them’

  • Chinese study finds most masks shed microplastic fibres that are inhaled by the wearer and could be harmful
  • But the effects are unclear and vastly outweighed by the benefit of preventing coronavirus transmission, researchers say

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Most of the masks studied by researchers were found to shed fibres that could be inhaled by the wearer. Photo: Shutterstock
Stephen Chen
Wearing a face mask has become a way of life during the coronavirus pandemic, but it can also cause us to inhale harmful plastic fibres, according to a new study by Chinese scientists.

The researchers tested a wide range of mask products and found that nearly all would increase the daily intake of microplastic fibres during wear because of their relatively fragile structure.

The fibres could cause some health problems, but this possibility was dwarfed by their benefits during the pandemic and should not prompt people to stop wearing them, according to the researchers.

“It is a minor problem compared with protecting humans from Covid-19,” said the team from the Institute of Hydrobiology in Wuhan in a peer-reviewed paper published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials on Wednesday.

Activated carbon masks produced the most fibres, followed by surgical, cotton, fashion and N95 masks, the researchers said. Photo: Handout
Activated carbon masks produced the most fibres, followed by surgical, cotton, fashion and N95 masks, the researchers said. Photo: Handout

Scientists first discovered microplastics in the lung tissue of some patients who died of lung cancer in the 1990s, and many other studies have since highlighted the potential damage to health caused by such materials.

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