https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/how-denial-of-airborne-covid-transmission-broke-the-world/?s=09

Respirators are so effective that United Kingdom research has indicated their use by the public would have dropped the rate of COVID transmission by an estimated factor of 9, compared with 0.6 for surgical masks. A factor of 9 is enough to put SARS-COV-2 into exponential decay, meaning the virus would have been highly suppressed for as long as respirator use continued. The exponential math of viral spread also means that perfect masking compliance would not have been required to achieve suppression.

@maskup

Five hour delay for infection in a contaminated indoor room. You have to treat any indoor room as hot until proven otherwise.

Evidence from whole genome sequencing of aerosol transmission of #SARSCoV2 almost 5 hours after hospital room turnover - American Journal of Infection Control

https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(24)00162-7/abstract

https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-3851387/v1

> Experimental evidence suggests that Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) remains viable within aerosols with a half-life of approximately 3 hours; however, it remains unclear how long airborne SARS-CoV-2 can transmit infection. Whole genome sequencing during an outbreak suggested in-room transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to two patients admitted nearly 2 and 5 hours, respectively, after discharge of an asymptomatic infected patient. These findings suggest that airborne SARS-CoV-2 may transmit infection for over 4 hours, even in a hospital setting.

The thing about nanoplastics in every organ of the body and rising cancer rates pre-covid is that covid -- by damaging mechanisms in the body that prevent tumor formation & growth -- can now take that curve and make it exponential

The thing about filtering the air you breathe is that you can solve a significant portion of both problems at once

We created a world in which the air we breathe in cities is full of plastic. The inflammatory, hormonal, epigenetic, and carcinogenic risks of this are clearer than thermoplastic polymer

Until there is something we can do about it systemically, you are being exposed. But you can do something about that today (by wearing an N95)

A story in three parts:

1. "The company found that a car’s four tires collectively emit 1 trillion ultrafine particles — of less than 100 nanometers — per kilometer driven. These particles, a growing number of experts say, pose a unique health risk: They are so small they can pass through lung tissue into the bloodstream and cross the blood-brain barrier or be breathed in and travel directly to the brain, causing a range of problems."

https://e360.yale.edu/features/tire-pollution-toxic-chemicals

2. "... smaller ultrafine particles of <36.5 nm size generally penetrated least. [...] 95% protection is achievable for smaller particles of 11.5 to 20.5 nm sizes."

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/9/1958

3. Respirators work. Over the coming years, you will probably see more and more articles come out about the health risks of airborne micro and nanoplastics -- mostly in the context of their accumulation in untreated, indoor air. But it is worth knowing that there is something you can do about your exposure outdoors, as well. The more people normalize this behavior, the less stigmatized it becomes. The only thing worse than a health risk is the stigma attached to the tools that help us mitigate it. Since electric vehicles weigh more -- and thus emit more tire dust -- outdoor air isn't getting any friendlier in places with car-centric infrastructure

meme template no: ban masking

meme template yes: #Banemasking

#P100
#weararespirator
#CovidIsNotOver

Mask failure is always a nonzero risk, and this is one of the challenges of one-way masking, but there is an overlooked risk factor that many folks may not know about: alcohol vapor from hand sanitizer.

The electret material in N95s is highly durable and long-lasting, but vulnerable to degradation from the vapor of volatile solvents like alcohol. The overlap between folks who wear respirators and folks who use a lot of hand sanitizer is pretty large, and the degradation of an N95's filtration efficiency from alcohol vapor is measurable¹. The risk comes from direct damage to the fibers, which disrupts the quasi-permanent charge they are imbued with. If you can smell the vapor, then you are pulling it through the mask and exposing the fibers.

Though fomites are a remote risk with SARSCoV2, they are a concern with other pathogens, and there are alcohol-free wipes for disinfecting hands when washing isn't an option:

* Clorox Pro Hand Wipes with BZK
* SONO Medical-Grade, Alcohol-Free, No Bleach Disinfecting Wipes

1. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/gch2.202100015

Why? Because we have normalized the unmitigated transmission & resulting repeated infections of an airborne, neurotrophic vasculitis, while ignoring post viral infection consequences

Aka #LongCovid

Opinion: Why do we have to keep getting #COVID? - The Globe and Mail

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-why-do-we-have-to-keep-getting-covid/

> There is a lot we could to prevent constant reinfections, but no public motivation to do so

Mpox can be airborne. #WearAMask #WearARespirator #NoMaskBans

https://www.forbes.com/sites/judystone/2024/08/16/mpox-and-mask-bansa-recipe-for-disaster/

The news keeps getting worse.

COVID has now been shown to infect your nervous system/brain *first*, and fast, before it even gets into your blood, via multiple pathways.

Wonder what this means for vaccines that rely on circulating antibodies for any protection, my guess is that it can't prevent the nervous system infection at all.

See detailed overview here:
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1817761576411189406.html

#CovidIsNotOver
#COVIDisAirborne
#WearARespirator

#sars2 is an airborne neurotrophic vasculitis.

Beyond breathing: How COVID-19 affects your heart, brain and other organs

https://www.heart.org/en/news/2024/01/16/how-covid-19-affects-your-heart-brain-and-other-organs

> "I would argue that COVID-19 is not a disease of the lungs at all," she said. "It seems most likely that it is what we call a vascular and neurologic infection, affecting both nerve endings and our cardiovascular system."

Don Milton is an unsung hero.

Study Confirms One Type of #COVID Mask Is 'Significantly Better' Than Others

https://www.sciencealert.com/study-confirms-one-type-of-covid-mask-is-significantly-better-than-others

> Of the four types of masks tested, the duckbill #N95 mask came out on top: it blocked 99 percent of large particles and 98 percent of small particles from getting out into the air. Overall, 98 percent of the viral load was blocked by the N95. "The research shows that any mask is much better than no mask, and an N95 is significantly better than the other options," says Donald Milton, an environmental health scientist and clinician at the University of Maryland

Relative efficacy of masks and respirators as source control for viral aerosol shedding from people infected with #SARSCoV2: a controlled human exhaled breath aerosol experimental stud

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ebiom/article/PIIS2352-3964(24)00192-0/fulltext

"Respirator" means a facemask that seals around the mouth and nose for the purpose of filtering all the air the wearer inhales.

Respirators can be constructed of either:

a) an elastomeric body designed to be reused many times with replaceable electrostatically-charged, glass fibre, charcoal and/or gas filters, straps, etc

b) an electrostatically-charged fabric designed to be disposed of after one or a small number of uses.

Most reusable elastomeric respirators (N95, FFP2, FFP3, P100) have exhalation valves, but some don't.

Most disposable fabric respirators (KN95, KF94, N95, FFP2, FFP3) do not have exhalation valves, but some do.

So I’m out doing yard work. It’s buggy so I’m wearing a hat with a big net that covers my whole head and neck. It’s camouflage pattern green and black.

There are ticks around here, so I’ve got long work pants tucked into long socks. I have on elbow length heavy gloves.

I also tend to carry as many sticks as possible out of the yard in a very tall pile in my wheelbarrow, usually with me pushing it in a comical walk trying to avoid the sticks hanging out in all directions.

And people think I might be embarrassed to wear a mask?