Department of Information Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications, Sapienza University of Rome, via Eudossiana, 18 00184, Rome, Italy.
Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, Sensor and Actuator Systems Division, Linköping University, Campus Valla, 581 83, Linköping, Sweden.
Sci Rep. 2022 Oct 7;12(1):16796. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-20692-9.
Due to the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, wearing a disposable face mask has become a worldwide daily routine, not only for medical operators or specialized personnel, but also for common people. Notwithstanding the undeniable positive effect in reducing the risk of virus transmission, it is important to understand if a prolonged usage of the same face mask can have effectiveness on filtering capability and potential health consequences. To this aim, we present three investigations. A survey, carried out in central Italy, offers an overview of the distorted public awareness of face mask usage. A functional study shows how prolonged wearing leads to substantial drops in humid air filtration efficiency. Finally, a morphological analysis reports the proliferation of fungal or bacteria colonies inside an improperly used mask. Our study highlights therefore that wearing a face mask is really beneficial only if it is used correctly.
由于 SARS-CoV-2 的爆发，佩戴一次性口罩已成为全球范围内的日常习惯，不仅是医疗工作者或专业人员，普通人也如此。尽管不可否认这在降低病毒传播风险方面有积极作用，但我们有必要了解长时间使用同一只口罩是否会对面罩的过滤能力和潜在健康后果产生影响。为此，我们进行了三项调查。在意大利中部进行的一项调查提供了有关公众对面罩使用认识扭曲的概况。一项功能研究表明，长时间佩戴会导致湿热空气过滤效率大幅下降。最后，形态分析报告了在使用不当的口罩内真菌或细菌菌落的增殖。因此，我们的研究强调，只有正确使用口罩，才能真正受益。
