Do phthalates in face masks pose health hazards with increased usage during the COVID-19 pandemic? Elsevierconnect SapienzaRoma istsupsan SARSCoV2 COVID19 FaceMasks Phthalates HealthRisk
By Dr. Chinta SidharthanOct 17 2022Reviewed by Aimee Molineux In a recent study published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, researchers investigated the presence of phthalic acid esters or phthalates in commercially available face masks to assess the health risks associated with the increased use of face masks during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
The layers of all these face masks are made using polypropylene, polyester, polycarbonate, polystyrene, or polyethylene, all of which contain hazardous chemicals such as phthalates that are used to improve the flexibility of the material. Of the 35 evaluated masks, 31% were FFP2 masks with four or five layers, 63% were three-layer surgical masks, and 6% were non-surgical three-layered masks. The masks included in the study comprised 24 adult masks and 11 masks for children and were made in Italy , China , and Turkey .
Results The results from the GC/MS evaluation indicated that four phthalates — dibutyl phthalate , bis phthalate , diisobutyl phthalate , and benzyl butyl phthalate — were detected in all the face masks that were tested, in concentrations between 23.6 mg/kg and 54.3 mg/kg. The other phthalates were below the limit of detection values.
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