eli5: why do people wear face masks where air pollution is severe ?

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I mean surely it’s the same air going into their lungs regardless of the face mask? It’s not like an infectious disease spread by human contact where wearing a mask will reduce you getting the particles, it’s literally the air. So what’s really the point ?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Why do people doing DIY wear face masks or N95/FFP3 style masks etc

For pretty much the same reason dust, and dirt and debris particles these are big enough to get trapped in or on most masks most of these particles are too big to pass through the mask

A lot of people think that covid will still pass through a mask although yes that’s a possiblity it’s greatly reduced with a mask because it’s carried with or on the droplets that are sprayed out when coughing and it’s the droplets that get caught and trapped in the mask it’s basic science in action (when we cough or sneeze (well some of us do) are taught to cover your mouth or nose with your hand a mask in effect is your hand) catching the spray wearing masks did dramatically reduce the spread of covid for that very reason

Surgical masks although not as protective as FFP3 Masks still have a mild level of protection that’s why Surgeons still wear them they are fluid and particle resistant to an extent in both directions, fluid splash resistant (note not water proof) on the coloured outer side and water or moisture wicking on the inside so it absorbs moisture from the wearers breath

China and many other countries where they have very high pollution levels have had people wearing face masks a lot longer prior to the covid pandemic for the main reason their Air pollution rate is currently 2.1 times over the Air Quality guidelines set out by the World Health organisation it’s basically SMOG most of the time in built up areas despite being thought of as pretty tech savvy etc they still burn a load of fossil fuels out n China and have the Highest Carbon Dioxide emissions in the world (12.7 billion metric tons)

So would you rather wear a mask and at least have some kind of mild filtration/protection around your mouth and nose or none at all in somewhere like China or other densely populated country where their Air pollution is pretty bad?

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