Recently, influenza A and influenza B have been raging, and Ms. Zhang, as a logistics worker, has to come into contact with a large number of people every day, so every day when she goes out, Ms. Zhang's mother urges her daughter to wear a mask and stay away from the virus.
But recently, Ms. Zhang was "a little rebellious" and always didn't wear a mask, and her mother was also anxious when she saw it, and she was especially worried that Ms. Zhang would be infected with an infectious disease.
It turned out that Ms. Zhang did not wear a mask because she saw on the Internet that there are fine particles in the materials made of masks, which are easy to rub the lungs and get lung nodules when they enter the human body, which may cause cancer, and Ms. Zhang also said that the residual chemicals in the mask can cause cancer themselves.
Ms. Zhang thought that although there may be a greater risk of catching a cold without wearing a mask, a cold is always better than cancer.
In fact, recently, statements similar to "wearing a mask will cause lung nodules" and "ethylene oxide on the mask causes cancer" have become popular, which has made many people have doubts about masks, so is this true?
1. Wearing a mask for a long time leads to pulmonary nodules? Don't be misled
First of all, on the question of whether wearing a mask will cause pulmonary nodules, we still have to figure out what pulmonary nodules are.
As we all know, the lungs are made up of a mixture of blood vessels and bronchi. Along with the bronchial tubes, there are various blood vessels from the lungs.
When the lungs are infected by bacteria or viruses and cause inflammation, are rubbed by large particles for a long time, or are invaded by lesions such as tuberculosis and tumors, there will be manifestations similar to polyps, hyperplasia and calcification.
When these lesions form round-like or even irregular lesions with a diameter of less than or equal to 30 mm, they will appear as dense shadows on imaging, that is, pulmonary nodules.
According to density, pulmonary nodules can be classified as solid and subsolid. In addition, lung nodules can be classified as benign and malignant depending on their nature, and malignant lung nodules can often be regarded as a prodromal disease of lung cancer.
Speaking of which, the horror of lung nodules seems to have risen sharply, because there is no doubt that lung cancer is not low in terms of five-year survival rate or mortality, let alone the perennial high incidence of lung cancer, so lung cancer itself is one of the diseases that threaten human health the most.
However, there is no need to worry too much, as most lung nodules are benign, especially those under five millimeters. However, even benign lung nodules indicate that there is a certain lesion in our lungs, or that we have inhaled large particulate matter for a long time.
So can wearing a mask often cause pulmonary nodules?
Actually, I was overly worried. Many people believe that wearing a mask causes pulmonary nodules because the mask itself produces small molecules or powder particles, which will cause friction when sucked into the lungs, and produce a series of pathological manifestations for a long time, resulting in pulmonary nodules.
In fact, it is not so exaggerated, because the mask is made of meltblown cloth, which is a microfiber nonwoven material processed from polypropylene polymer material.
Under normal circumstances, during the normal service life, this polymer material will not produce small molecule substances. Then it may be that when we pull the mask, for example, the polypropylene is denatured to form powder particles. That said, masks are indeed capable of forming powder particles.
But it's a big particle, and it's hard for our human respiratory tract to inhale, and even harder to get into the lungs.
In addition, the raw material of the inner layer of the mask is generally PP anti-stick fiber, and even if this fiber is broken, it will form dander on the order of microns. Even if this small thing is inhaled into the respiratory tract, it will be blocked by a variety of barriers of the human body, such as mucus, or excreted by the body's self-clearance mechanism, and it is impossible for it to stay in the lungs for a long time, let alone produce pulmonary nodules.
Generally speaking, particles with a diameter of less than 10 microns may cause certain lesions in the lungs, and the diameter of this fibrous dander is generally 100 microns, which is a large particle and will be directly discharged by our human body.
Of course, it is undeniable that some unscrupulous manufacturers choose materials that may cause harm to the human body when making masks, and this belongs to other factors. Under normal circumstances, wearing a mask does not increase the incidence of pulmonary nodules, and not only that, but it has little to do with cancer.
2. If you get cancer if you wear too much, can you still wear a mask?
Many people believe that wearing masks causes cancer because the vast majority of masks contain an organic compound called ethylene oxide.
The reason why this material is used is because ethylene oxide has a very excellent protective effect, its properties are lively, and it can undergo non-specific alkylation with proteins and nucleic acids in microorganisms, so that microorganisms lose their normal functions and die.
Therefore, ethylene oxide has a good isolation effect on bacteria, spores and spores.
We all know that a high temperature of 200 degrees can kill most of the bacteria that are harmful to the human body, but it is certainly impossible for a mask to tolerate this temperature. However, ethylene oxide can play a role in killing bacteria even at about 50 degrees, and ethylene oxide will not corrode materials such as plastics, paper and cotton metal in the gaseous state.
As a result, ethylene oxide is often found in baby diapers, sanitary napkins and masks.
Ethylene oxide is indeed a class of carcinogens identified by the World Health Organization, which is toxic in itself, and can also be applied to normal cells to cause mutations in cell genes.
However, ethylene oxide causes cancer does not mean that masks cause cancer, because there is an old saying in the medical community: "Talking about toxicity regardless of dose is a hooligan".
It is mentioned in the industry regulations for medical surgical masks that the residual amount of ethylene oxide in masks sterilized by ethylene oxide should not exceed 10 micrograms/gram. Therefore, it will take at least one month for a mask to go through at least one month from the completion of ethylene oxide sterilization to the factory, and then to our hands.
Ethylene oxide itself is very reactive and volatile easily, so it is not easy to reap.
And a mask is about 3 grams, according to industry standards, a mask has a maximum of 30 micrograms of ethylene oxide, according to its toxicity standards, it is an exaggeration to say that we only eat three masks in one breath to produce ethylene oxide toxicity.
Therefore, there is no scientific basis for masks to cause cancer, at least masks that fully meet the production standards are unlikely to cause ethylene oxide to exceed the standard. On the contrary, masks are more of a benefit for us, as they can help us isolate many diseases.
3. Wear a mask well, these diseases may be far away from you
1. Respiratory tract infections
Common respiratory infections, such as colds, flu, pneumonia and tuberculosis, are transmitted through droplets. Specifically, loud shouting, sneezing, and coughing and spitting can all contribute to the spread of the pathogen.
When we wear masks, we can well isolate these infectious pathogens and play a good role in respiratory protection.
2. Allergic diseases
An important way for allergy sufferers to come into contact with allergens is through breathing, and common allergens include pollen, dust, and animal dander.
When these substances come into contact with the mucous membranes of the face, nasal cavity and respiratory tract, they can cause mucosal hyperplasia and congestion, leading to allergic diseases such as rhinitis, dermatitis and asthma. Masks can protect our faces well and effectively reduce the frequency of contact with allergens.
3. Hyperventilation syndrome
Hyperventilation is when the patient's breathing rate is too fast and the depth of breathing is particularly strong, resulting in excessive excretion of carbon dioxide and too low levels of carbon dioxide in the body. This can cause respiratory alkalosis, finger twitching, facial numbness, etc.
However, wearing a mask can prevent excessive dissipation of exhaled carbon dioxide, improve our chances of reabsorbing carbon dioxide, and improve the patient's symptoms.
4. Anti-haze
As we mentioned above, small particles with a diameter of 10 microns may enter the lungs and cause friction, while there are many harmful particles with a smaller diameter in the haze, which are more harmful to the respiratory system. Therefore, the best way to prevent smog is to wear a mask, which can isolate most harmful substances, which is very meaningful for us to protect our lungs in special weather.
bibliography
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[2] Xiao Junzhen. Vaccination, wearing masks, strengthening the body[N]. Xiangsheng Daily, 2022-12-09
[3] Huo Shouxi. What are the precautions for wearing masks in winter [J]. Life & Disasters, 2020, (12)