[bunkerhill7]

But them docs n nurses ben wearin them masks almost 100 years in the operating rooms. How come they ain’t dead yet?

[Secret Agent Man]

They do not wear them ALL DAY EVERYWHERE THEY GO

[Hootowl99]

Ain't dead yet ‘cause masks are purdy good at protecting against bacteria. Dem bacteria fellers are 2 or 3 orders of magnitude larger den dinky viruses.

[bagster]

But them docs n nurses ben wearin them masks almost 100 years in the operating rooms. How come they ain’t dead yet?

I bet some of them from 100 years ago are.

And I wonder if they put the same chemicals on them then that they do now. And I wonder if they wore them for extended periods of time then as they do now.

Somebody should do a study. Oh, wait. Somebody did.

See linked article for more information.

[livius]

They don’t wear them all the time.

Surgical masks are effective in preventing some bacterial infections, but useless for viral infections.

[jonrick46]

The human body is capable of compensating for the lower levels of oxygen. Take, for instant the Japanese Ama (Sea Women). These divers plunge unaided to the bottom of the ocean 100 to 150 times a day, holding their breath for up to two minutes at a time while swimming vigorously to collect pearls in depths as much as 70 feet. They would begin their ama training at the age of 12 with an older family member and would then dive until they were 70 or 80 years old. Their muscles have a way to store oxygen to endure these dives.

[Greg67]

In operating rooms they are more concerned with the rise in O2 concentration and are many studies warning not to let it go over 30% in air ( 18% normal) due to risk of explosions. That may compensate the extra CO2 inhaled.

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

But them docs n nurses ben wearin them masks almost 100 years in the operating rooms. How come they ain’t dead yet?

Doctors and nurses work in an oxygen-enriched environment that compensates for the effects of wearing a surgical mask.

[Dusty Road]

Do you know why they wear them in the OR? Here’s a hint! It’s not to protect them from the patient. They wear head coverings. gloves and gowns also. Again it’s not to protect them from the patient. They also come out of those masks as soon as they leave the room. If they go into another room they put on all new gear including masks. That equipment is for the patients safety not the OR crew. The last thing you want is for anything to get into an open wound.

[Pollard]

The adverse physiological effects were confirmed in a study of 53 surgeons where surgical facemask were used during a major operation. After 60 min of facemask wearing the oxygen saturation dropped by more than 1% and heart rate increased by approximately five beats/min [45]. Another study among 158 health-care workers using protective personal equipment primarily N95 facemasks reported that 81% (128 workers) developed new headaches during their work shifts as these become mandatory due to COVID-19 outbreak. For those who used the N95 facemask greater than 4 h per day, the likelihood for developing a headache during the work shift was approximately four times higher [Odds ratio = 3.91, 95% CI (1.35–11.31) p = 0.012], while 82.2% of the N95 wearers developed the headache already within ≤10 to 50 min [46].

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7680614/