Since the start of the current COVID-19 pandemic, for the first time a significant fraction of the world's population cover their respiratory system for an extended period with mostly medical facemasks and textile masks. This new situation raises questions about the extent of mask related debris (fibers and particles) being released and inhaled and possible adverse effects on human health. This study aimed to quantify the debris release from a textile-based facemask in comparison to a surgical mask and a reference cotton textile using both liquid and air extraction. Under liquid extractions, cotton-based textiles released up to 29′452 ± 1′996 fibers g⁻¹ textile while synthetic textiles released up to 1′030 ± 115 fibers g⁻¹ textile. However, when the masks were subjected to air-based extraction scenarios, only a fraction (0.1–1.1%) of this fiber amount was released. Several metals including copper (up to 40.8 ± 0.9 µg g⁻¹) and iron (up to 7.0 ± 0.3 µg g⁻¹) were detected in acid dissolved textiles. Additionally the acute in vitro toxicity of size-fractionated liquid extracts (below and above 0.4 µm) were assessed on human alveolar basal epithelial cells. The current study shows no acute cytotoxicity response for all the analyzed facemasks.

自当前 COVID-19 大流行开始以来，世界上有相当一部分人口首次使用主要是医用口罩和纺织口罩长时间遮盖他们的呼吸系统。这种新情况引发了关于口罩相关碎屑（纤维和颗粒）被释放和吸入的程度以及可能对人类健康产生不利影响的问题。本研究旨在量化基于纺织品的面罩释放的碎屑，并与外科口罩和使用液体和空气提取的参考棉纺织品进行比较。在液体萃取下，棉基纺织品释放高达 29'452 ± 1'996 纤维 g ^-1纺织品，而合成纺织品释放高达 1'030 ± 115 纤维 g ^-1纺织品。然而，当口罩经受基于空气的提取场景时，只有一小部分 (0.1–1.1%) 的纤维量被释放。在酸溶解的纺织品中检测到多种金属，包括铜（高达 40.8 ± 0.9 µg g ^-1）和铁（高达 7.0 ± 0.3 µg g ^{-1 ）。}此外，还评估了按大小分级的液体提取物（小于和大于 0.4 µm）对人肺泡基底上皮细胞的急性体外毒性。目前的研究表明，所有分析的面罩都没有急性细胞毒性反应。