How is it not dangerous to breathe in the CO2 that we breathe out into our masks?

Question

I’ve heard a lot of anti-maskers use the argument that since we breathe out CO2, it will become trapped in the mask and is dangerous to breathe back in.

Obviously, this isn’t the case, because doctors wear their masks for hours and hours on end while doing surgeries. However, I am wondering, how does it work?

In: Biology

Answer 1

The CO2 molecules diffuse through the mask much like the gaseous exchange that takes place I our lungs this can occur much easier than if it were the virus diffusing as the CO2 molecules are much smaller than the virus