Concerned about the potential harm their children were exposed to by being required to wear face masks at school, a group of parents in Gainesville, Florida submitted six masks to a lab for analysis.
The analysis from the University of Florida’s Mass Spectrometry Research and Education Center found that five of the masks submitted were contaminated with bacteria, parasites, and fungi, including three with dangerous pathogenic and pneumonia-causing bacteria, a press release said.
The analysis detected the following pathogens on the masks:
• Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumonia)
• Mycobacterium tuberculosis (tuberculosis)
• Neisseria meningitidis (meningitis, sepsis)
• Acanthamoeba polyphaga (keratitis and granulomatous amebic encephalitis)
• Acinetobacter baumanni (pneumonia, blood stream infections, meningitis, UTIs— resistant to antibiotics)
• Escherichia coli (food poisoning)
• Borrelia burgdorferi (causes Lyme disease)
• Corynebacterium diphtheriae (diphtheria)
• Legionella pneumophila (Legionnaires' disease)
• Staphylococcus pyogenes serotype M3 (severe infections—high morbidity rates)
• Staphylococcus aureus (meningitis, sepsis)
According to the press release, the masks that were sent to the lab for analysis were new or freshly-laundered before wearing and had been worn for 5 to 8 hours, most during in-person schooling by children aged 6 through 11. One was worn by an adult.
"A t-shirt worn by one of the children to school and unworn masks were tested as controls. No pathogens were found on the controls; samples from the front top and bottom of the t-shirt found proteins that are commonly found in skin and hair, along with some commonly found in soil," the press release noted.
The lab's analysis found that half of the masks were contaminated with one or more strain of pneumonia-causing bacteria; one-third were contaminated with one or more strain of meningitis-causing bacteria; one-third were contaminated with dangerous, antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens. Less dangerous pathogens were identified, including those that can cause fever, ulcers, acne, yeast infections, strep throat, periodontal disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and more.
Writing for TownHall.com on June 15, Scott Morefield noted: "We on Team Reality have not only continued to point to real-world data that shows masking to be entirely ineffective, we've also maintained that forced public masking, especially long-term, has negative societal and even health ramifications that the powers-that-be are all-too-happy to ignore in subservience to their newfound face mask god."
The below chart, put together by the group of parents, shows the potential dangers from each pathogen:
Free Press International
