COVID mania is heating up again as hospitals, Hollywood studios, and colleges are starting to bring back mandates, and President Joe Biden has requested millions of dollars for a new mRNA vaccine that will be "recommended" for everyone.
I personally have noticed more masks popping up lately in theaters, stores, even in cars. You’ve seen it—those weirdos driving around alone wearing two masks as if they’ll prevent themselves from getting the coronavirus... from themselves.
This despite the fact that in December of 2022, former White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said, “There is no study in the world that shows that masks work that well.”
There may not be a study that shows masks work well, but there is an analysis of 78 studies involving over one million people that concluded that masks made “little to no difference” in COVID infections and death rates.
And even the CDC recommends you don't wear one for more than an hour:
Now a study released back in April is back in the news because it shows that there may be hidden dangers to the N95 masks commonly recommended in the U.S. Who would have thought?
The surgical N95 mask has been held up as the gold standard when it comes to protecting against Covid.
But a study quietly re-shared by the National Institutes of Health in spring suggests the tight-fitting mask may expose users to dangerous levels of toxic chemicals.
Researchers from Jeonbuk National University in South Korea looked at two types of disposable medical-grade masks, as well as several reusable cotton masks.
The study found that the chemicals released by these masks had eight times the recommended safety limit of toxic volatile organic compounds (TVOCs).
Inhaling TVOCs has been linked to health issues like headaches and nausea, while prolonged and repeated has been linked to organ damage and even cancer.
Well, that sure doesn’t sound good.
The study further found TVOCs were 14 times lower in cloth masks, but it's hard to believe those flimsy cotton things people constantly move around their faces actually do anything, anyway.
The study was published in the journal Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety and on the NIH's website, but the NIH pointed out that didn’t mean they accepted its conclusions:
The NIH said: "Inclusion in an NLM database does not imply endorsement of, or agreement with, the contents by NLM or the National Institutes of Health."
That's pretty weasely; either confirm or deny it—you're the freakin' NIH, for heck's sake.
A tweet regarding this study received an X Community Note:
"The disposable masks were KFAD and KF94 models, which were made from thermoplastics polypropylene and polyurethane nylon. These masks have been popularized in South Korea, whereas KN95s are more popular in the US." It's not a study about KN95 masks.
It's true that the study was conducted on N94 masks; however, the Daily Mail reports that the difference between N94 and the N95s used more often here is “minuscule.”
As we see more and more signs that the Biden administration and health authorities nationwide are desperate to bring back the dark days of COVID madness, studies like these show just how far off the mark many of their recommendations were—and continue to be.
We must never let them rob us of our liberties like that again.
Dr. Stuart Fischer, an internal medicine physician in New York, sums up the situation pretty nicely:
I think following the general recommendations might be helpful, but it's not clear yet if we need the sweeping edicts of three years ago.
Extreme fears about the lethality of Covid may have led to decisions that were counterproductive.
Covid won't be going away for a long time, if ever. We desperately need policies that do not fracture our society while providing minimal protection. [Emphasis mine.]