The Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) has made a withdrawal of some popular masks “with graphene: the use of this material, which has become famous for its properties, may entail risks. The problem lies in the possible lung toxicity of the nanoparticles.”
“The preventive withdrawal by the Canadian health authorities of masks containing graphene has triggered alarms about these products, given the potential risk of inhaling nanoparticles of said material. For this reason, based on the precautionary principle, the Canadian authorities have withdrawn these masks from the market until they have an evaluation of their safety.
“After the Canadian alert, the first movements in Spain were produced by some Autonomous Communities. For this reason, the Basque Government withdrew two masks from the manufacturer Shandong Shenquan. Other communities, such as Castilla y León, followed in his footsteps. The masks affected are: An IIR disposable surgical mask made of graphene and biomass, distributed by Amevisa SAU An FFP2 mask, Healfiber, distributed by Iturri SA These masks were mainly intended for use by professionals. In fact, they had been distributed to security forces, teachers, health workers… it issued a statement announcing the voluntary cessation of marketing those same IIR surgical masks with biomass graphene from Shandong Shenquan, upon detecting that they were indeed being marketed in Spain”.
What is graphene?
From the OCU they explain that graphene is a type of carbon-based material that has many novel applications and to which various investigations attribute a barrier effect against viruses, so it can be useful to make masks. However, whether its use is safe should be investigated, as there is concern that the inhalation of graphene nanoparticles