Carol Anderson: Do we truly understand the consequences of wearing masks?

To The Daily Sun:

The 2020 pandemic has caused countless issues throughout the world. Anyone responsible for providing food for themselves or a family is no stranger to the shortage of certain items available in stores.

Flour is rarely found and baking yeast is missing from the shelves entirely. Bread bakers have taken to creating sourdough starters to replace yeast when baking bread. The two ingredients needed are flour and water, which are placed in either a glass jar or bowl, stirred together, and covered with a cloth. After adding additional water and flour for a six-day period, the starter is ready to use. How does this make a leavening agent for bread baking? Simply by drawing the yeast normally present in our air into the flour and water mixture.

I have made this, and it can be used as a replacement for store-bought yeast quite successfully. However, this innocent kitchen experiment proves that a yeast substance covered with a cloth quickly multiplies. The results become better with a tight-fitting cloth and warm temperatures.

With every breath we take, we naturally pull this same yeast into our mouths and respiratory system. If we wear masks (even loosely) across our mouths, we will be aiding in the quick multiplication of yeast. This can cause oral thrush, a contagious yeast contamination that can develop in the mouth and throat. It can also cause trench mouth, which is a severe gum infection caused by a buildup of bacteria in the mouth that can spread to the cheeks, lips or bones of the jaw.

However, yeast is not the only type of fungus found on used masks. A very quick internet search revealed a large number of studies done on the bacteria and fungi levels found on the inside and outside of used surgical masks. All of these studies can be found and read on the U.S. National Library of Medicine: (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/). The four most common types of bacteria and/or fungi found inside and outside masks worn by humans are (and they are some of the deadliest): Staphylococcus, Aspergillus, Streptococcus, and Psuedomonas.

We have to ask ourselves if we TRULY understand the consequences of wearing masks and most importantly, do we know what we are doing when we insist on having retail workers wear masks for their entire shift? It is scientifically proven that the masks are ineffective in blocking a virus since their weave or fibers are placed too far apart.

Why are the “authorities” offering this as a major solution, and why is the medical profession not at the very least, informing us about the dangers of trapping and breeding yeast, bacteria, and fungi against our faces with a mask, especially as the temperatures increase? Wouldn’t we need and deserve that information to make a good decision?

Tragically, it appears that the bread bakers of the world have far more superior knowledge than those who are supposedly “in charge” of our well-being.

Carol Anderson

Gilford