Updated Mask Mathematics

People and governments just will not let go of masks.  Mask mandates are once again being recommended by medical professionals who really should know better.  It is time to put the mask myth to bed.  Masks do not work.

Masks simply are not designed to stop something as small as a virus.  I have pointed this out many times on this blog starting in December 2020 when I wrote this.

The math says we should not have expected masks to be effective.  Laboratory tests show that masks worn for more than 2 hours are completely ineffective.  Despite having no evidence to support that masks might work politicians forced them on the public anyway.  Nowhere that has mandated masks has seen any difference in the arc of their infections.  The math, science and historical data show that masks do not work against airborne viruses yet here we are wearing them to avoid being fined or imprisoned.  Does anyone still think this is about a virus?

It was painfully obvious from the start that cloth, disposable, and even surgical masks would have no effect.  After lying for more than a year health authorities all but admitted this when they started to recommend N95 masks.  As an engineer I found even this claim dubious.  I went looking for but could not find any information for the effectiveness of an N95 mask for 0.1 micron particles (the average size of the SARS COV-2 virus).

I often deal with filters in my job so I know more about filters than the average person.  Often I am tasked with filtering some process stream.  I size the filters based on the smallest particle that I want to remove.  One of the first things you need to understand is that there is a difference between an absolute and a nominal filter.  A 0.3 micron absolute filter will stop any particle larger than 0.3 micron.  A 0.3 nominal filter will remove most but not all particles larger than 0.3 micron.  Some larger particles will still get through.  N95 masks are a nominal 0.3 micron filter.

So an N95 filter will still let some particles larger than 0.3 micron through.  The smaller the particle the less effective it will be.  The virus is only 0.1 micron; 3 times smaller than the nominal rating of the filter.  I could not find any data on how effective an N95 mask would be on 0.1 micron particles and then this morning I found an excellent testimony from an industrial health expert.

Near the end of his testimony he discusses N95 masks.  Glued to your face an N95 mask will stop 40% of particles as small as the virus.  40% is still better than nothing right?  Yes if you are willing to glue a mask to your face every morning.  If you are not willing to do this then don’t bother with an N95.  Any gap at all drops the efficiency to 3%.  An N95 mask is such an effective breathing barrier that air will take the path of least resistance.  When you inhale most of the air you draw in will come through the gap not the mask.

https://youtu.be/ZFjLFqESxY0

Any organization thinking of mandating masks should watch this video.  Masks are like everything else the government mandates.  They do far more harm than good.  They provide no significant protection while causing numerous other health issues.  Masks are all pain for no gain; not just empty virtue signaling but harmful empty virtue signaling.