Wearing face mask won’t cause hypoxia
To slow the spread of the coronavirus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended people wear cloth face coverings in settings where it’s difficult to maintain social distancing.
But claims have been circulating about the dangers of face masks to people who wear them, including that they cause hypoxia, or a lack of oxygen in the body’s tissue.
One Facebook post from user Amy Cox Jones warned that putting a face mask on a child will cause them to pass out and die. Her post, which had more than 8,500 shares as of Friday morning, includes a photo of an infant who appears to be napping while wearing a cloth mask.
“FYI – putting a mask on a baby or small child will make them pass out and possibly kill them due to hypoxia,” the post says. “Most parents will mistake this for a nap.”
While Jones’ post correctly cautions against using face masks on young children – a warning included in CDC guidelines – her post also implies that face masks are harmful for adults for the same reason.
“Same thing will happen to you,” the post said. “It’ll just take longer.”
Jones, who has written other posts claiming face masks do not stop the spread of the virus and can be dangerous to those who wear them, did not respond to a USA TODAY request for comment.
The CDC recommends that people wear cloth face coverings in public because there’s evidence people with the novel coronavirus can spread the disease even if they don’t have symptoms.
A mask helps block the spread of respiratory droplets when a person is talking, sneezing or coughing, according to the CDC.
The CDC’S guidance excludes some people from the recommendation to wear masks, including children younger than 2. The American Academy of Pediatrics offers similar guidance for children “due to risks of suffocation.”
That’s because children younger than 2 can’t communicate if they are having trouble breathing, said Dr. Jennifer Shu, a certified pediatrician and spokeswoman for the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“They may not have the motor skills or coordination to remove a secured mask if (they are) having breathing difficulty or are overheated,” she said in an email.
The same guidance is true for older children or adults who can’t take a mask off by themselves or who have trouble breathing, according to the CDC and pediatrics academy guidelines. But Shu said older children with respiratory problems may still be able to tolerate masks for short periods if they are in a situation where wearing one is important.
Face shields could be a good alternative for children with respiratory ailments like asthma or cystic fibrosis, she said.
While Jones’ post is correct about face coverings for children, the post incorrectly implies that any adult wearing a cloth face covering will suffer from hypoxia.
In a widely read May 15 Facebook post, Dr. Jennifer L. Kasten, a practicing pathologist in Ohio, addressed some of those concerns, pointing out that medical personnel often wear masks for extended periods of time but don’t turn into “zombified surgeons.”
“The porous nature of the material used for both medical-grade masks and cloth masks fully permits normal respiration,” Kasten wrote. “If you can inhale through it, you can exhale through it. There is no trapping and recirculating of air (otherwise it would blow up like a balloon when you breathe out).”
Our ruling: Partly false
While the Facebook post correctly states that parents should not place face masks on their young children, the post incorrectly implies that all masks wearers will suffer from hypoxia, which is not supported by science.
We rate this claim PARTLY FALSE.