ArticleJournal of hazardous materials2021
COVID-19: Performance study of microplastic inhalation risk posed by wearing masks.
Article in Journal of hazardous materials, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
58 citing papers in PubMed, 213 citations in OpenAlex.
- Aging of Microplastics and Nanoplastics Induced by Advanced Oxidation Processes in Wastewater Treatment and Their Biological Toxicity: A Systematic Review.Microorganisms · 2026Review
- Quantification and characterization of manufactured nanomaterials shed from face masks.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Distinct pro-inflammatory responses to pristine and microbially contaminated PET nanoplastics in a human alveolar cell co-culture.Frontiers in toxicology · 2026Article
- Tracing Microplastics in the Human Body: From Detection to Disease Mechanisms.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Do We Need Titanium Dioxide (TiOToxics · 2025Review
- The effect of medical face masks on inhalation risk of bacterial bioaerosols in hospital waste decontamination station.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- The Fate of Microplastics, Derived from Disposable Masks, in Natural Aquatic Environments.Toxics · 2024Article
- Exploring Personal Exposure to Airborne Microplastics across Various Work Environments in Pathum Thani Province, Thailand.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) and their potential toxicological outcomes: State of science, knowledge gaps and research needs.NanoImpact · 2023Review
- Material flow analysis-based assessment of polypropylene-fiber-containing microplastics released from disposable masks: Characterizing distribution in the environmental media.The Science of the total environment · 2023Article
- Article
- Global face mask pollution: threats to the environment and wildlife, and potential solutions.The Science of the total environment · 2023Review
- Personal protective equipment-derived pollution during Covid-19 era: A critical review of ecotoxicology impacts, intervention strategies, and future challenges.The Science of the total environment · 2023Review
- Release of microplastics from disposable face mask in tropical climate.Regional studies in marine science · 2023Article
- Abandoned disposable masks become hot substrates for plastisphere, whether in soil, atmosphere or water.Journal of hazardous materials · 2023Article
- Personal protective equipment and micro-nano plastics: A review of an unavoidable interrelation for a global well-being hazard.Hygiene and environmental health advances · 2023Review
- Sources, distribution, and environmental effects of microplastics: a systematic review.RSC advances · 2023Review
- Current knowledge on the presence, biodegradation, and toxicity of discarded face masks in the environment.Journal of environmental chemical engineering · 2023Review
- Personal protective equipment (PPE) disposal during COVID-19: An emerging source of microplastic and microfiber pollution in the environment.The Science of the total environment · 2023Review
- Recent insights into uptake, toxicity, and molecular targets of microplastics and nanoplastics relevant to human health impacts.iScience · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Wearing face masks has become the new normal worldwide due to the global spread of the coronavirus disease 2019. The inhalation of microplastics due to the wearing of masks has rarely been reported. The present study used different types of commonly used masks to conduct breathing simulation experiments and investigate microplastic inhalation risk. Microplastic inhalation caused by reusing masks that underwent various treatment processes was also tested. Results implied that wearing masks considerably reduces the inhalation risk of particles (e.g., granular microplastics and unknown particles) even when they are worn continuously for 720 h. Surgical, cotton, fashion, and activated carbon masks wearing pose higher fiber-like microplastic inhalation risk, while all masks generally reduced exposure when used under their supposed time (<4 h). N95 poses less fiber-like microplastic inhalation risk. Reusing masks after they underwent different disinfection pretreatment processes can increase the risk of particle (e.g., granular microplastics) and fiber-like microplastic inhalation. Ultraviolet disinfection exerts a relatively weak effect on fiber-like microplastic inhalation, and thus, it can be recommended as a treatment process for reusing masks if proven effective from microbiological standpoint. Wearing an N95 mask reduces the inhalation risk of spherical-type microplastics by 25.5 times compared with not wearing a mask.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.