Dear Reader,
The wearing of a face mask to protect against a respiratory virus is an act of grand deceit. It is a behavior that defies research on the topic. Wearing a face mask, as this article (one of many) points to — is unsafe to do and is ineffective.
Until the narrative around mandatory masking has changed, each day by 6am Eastern, I will both post here and send out a science-based reason why no one should wear a face mask.
I ask that you help me circulate these pieces to those around you who you believe could most benefit from them. It is important not to remain silent on this topic. These are important discussions to be having with friends, family members, business owners, healthcare practitioners, public servants, and others in the community.
-Allan
Masks break down easily, but their component fibers last a long time. Despite the relatively quick breakdown, the sheer quantities of masks create a huge environmental hazard. Kai Kisielinski, in an April 20, 2021 article entitled “Is a Mask That Covers the Mouth and Nose Free from Undesirable Side Effects in Everyday Use and Free of Potential Hazards?” writes:1
“According to WHO estimates of a demand of 89 million masks per month, their global production will continue to increase under the Corona pandemic.2 Due to the composition of, e.g., disposable surgical masks with polymers such as polypropylene, polyurethane, polyacrylonitrile, polystyrene, polycarbonate, polyethylene and polyester,3 an increasing global challenge, also from an environmental point of view, can be expected, especially outside Europe, in the absence of recycling and disposal strategies..”2
A common technocratic approach to a problem like this is to create another intervention in order to cure the problem caused by the original intervention. Creating a society-wide mask recycling program, providing it with a massive budget, and punishing those who do not comply would be an example of such an intervention built atop an already bad intervention. Medicine, as previously described, increasingly behaves this way. It is difficult to find a doctor who does not operate in this technocratic fashion. Medical researchers have described this tendency in the term “cascade of interventions,” and have cautioned doctors against this approach.
A far more reasonable approach is to abandon the original intervention, especially when that intervention — mandatory masking of the general population — is both unsafe and ineffective.
This can be accomplished in this situation and others with questions like these.
1. “What is causing this problem?”
The answer to this question helps focus the inquiry.
2. “Is it an approach advocated for by individuals in their own lives or is it being imposed upon them?”
If imposed, the answer is almost always to lift the imposition, for it is an approach that will inevitably fail the individual.
3. “What are the risks and rewards of this approach?”
Do the benefits outweigh the costs? If not, what special interest is preventing this matter from being clearly examined?
With these three questions, you will almost always get to the root of any problem caused by an intervention, rather than piling intervention upon intervention in an attempt to cure the problems of previous interventions.
Face mask recycling programs are not the solution to this government created environmental catastrophe. Ending the unsafe and ineffective face mask mandates is the solution.
Not only do these fibers fill our oceans, which we treat as a dumping ground, the polymers in face masks are a pollutant in all of our water, including the water we drink. Kisielinski continues:
“The aforementioned single use polymers have been identified as a significant source of plastic and plastic particles for the pollution of all water cycles up to the marine environment.”4
Nor does it stop there with our drinking water. These polymers contained in face masks make their way into our food. Kisielinski continues:
“A significant health hazard factor is contributed by mask waste in the form of microplastics after decomposition into the food chain.”
We are eating plastic. This is not purely because of face masks, but we would be lying to ourselves if we pretended this massive amount of unsafe and ineffective single-use face masks produced, used, and dumped into the environment around us does not add to the amount of plastic in our water, in our food, and in our bodies.
Additionally, face masks are a biohazard in our immediate environment. They are a biohazard in a way other humans are not to us. They provide a breeding ground for harmful pathogens. Kisielinski continues:
“Likewise, contaminated macroscopic disposable mask waste — especially before microscopic decay — represents a widespread medium for microbes (protozoa, bacteria, viruses, fungi) in terms of invasive pathogens. Proper disposal of bio-contaminated everyday mask material is insufficiently regulated even in western countries.”
Of course, we could again implement another protocol for proper waste disposal atop the already senseless, unsafe, and ineffective face mask mandates, but that would just be a predictably poor and knee-jerk reaction to a problem caused by mandatory masking. This intervention would doubtlessly lead to its own problems requiring the need for further intervention. Far better is to play no part in this and to not wear the unsafe and ineffective face mask.
This is yet another reason to not wear a face mask and to politely share your knowledge on this topic with others, so that they do not add to the environmental harm caused by wearing a face mask.
All of us who realize how unsafe and ineffective face masks are, must bravely share this knowledge face to face with people. Without you educating them on this topic, how would they ever find it?
This craziness did not start today, but in your life, this can end with you.
Kisielinski K, Giboni P, Prescher A, et al. Is a Mask That Covers the Mouth and Nose Free from Undesirable Side Effects in Everyday Use and Free of Potential Hazards? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021;18(8):4344. doi:10.3390/ijerph18084344.
Fadare, O.O.; Okoffo, E.D. Covid-19 Face Masks: A Potential Source of Microplastic Fibers in the Environment. Sci. Total Environ. 2020, 737, 140279.
Potluri, P.; Needham, P. Technical Textiles for Protection (Manchester EScholar-The University of Manchester); Wood-head Publishing: Cambridge, UK, 2005.
Schnurr, R.E.J.; Alboiu, V.; Chaudhary, M.; Corbett, R.A.; Quanz, M.E.; Sankar, K.; Srain, H.S.; Thavarajah, V.; Xanthos, D.; Walker, T.R. Reducing Marine Pollution from Single-Use Plastics (SUPs): A Review. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 2018, 137, 157–171.
The bestselling book "Face Masks In One Lesson" by Allan Stevo describes how to never wear a face mask again. The follow-up to the book, "Face Masks Hurt Kids," describes why to never wear a face mask again. We must defeat the awful, narrative around the mandates.
Examples of how face masks hurt kids will be posted to the Lockdown Land Substack each morning by 6am Eastern until the narrative around this ineffective and harmful medical intervention has shifted. Face masks are, in fact, not just harmful to children. Face masks are harmful to everyone. Thank you so much for helping me circulate this research.
To course correct entails the act of humility.
There's very little of it in the medical-scientific or "expert" ranks it appears at the moment.