The Masks

I am glad to announce that my clogged ear has cleared out. The herbal allergy remedy and hydrogen peroxide treatments have done their usual magic and my hearing is just about back to normal in my right ear. Yay! This makes me happy. Now if only we could overcome this COVID-19 crisis in the world...

Many independent artist sites, such as Fine Art America aka Pixels and Redbubble and Zazzle and more are now offering masks. But to my dismay, mainly made with polyester, which is not what the authorities recommend for this purpose. Wearing a polyester mask is not good for many reasons. Polyester is basically plastic and germs, in particular this novel virus, live longer on plastic surfaces. It also does not seem like a good idea to breath through this type of mask. After all, polyester is a synthetic fiber derived from coal, air, water, and petroleum. Minute polyester particles might carry into the lungs, for all we know. And unless proper nontoxic inks are used in the printing process, who knows what else might get into the body of the person breathing through printed polyester. Also, polyester does not "breath' the way that cotton and natural fibers do, so on top of other concerns, this mask might be uncomfortable to wear, unless microfiber, which brings along its own concerns. I notified FAA/Pixels about these concerns and the answer I got back was that they will take my suggestion of switching into cotton under consideration, but for now they will keep on using polyester. Why is it that serious recommendations by experts are not taken seriously? Is maximum profit really this important? More important than health? Yes, polyester is cheap and increasingly common in fabrics. But this is not really a sound solution. After all, polyester is a form of plastic and are plastics not considered environmentally undesirable overall?

I hope that people know better than to purchase potentially harmful products to remedy a potentially deadly situation. After all, in the end we are all responsible for our own health, whether we acknowledge this or not. Stay safe and make sound choices! There are so many unknowns in the current picture...