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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Planetary Health
Volume 10 - 2022 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.768454
This article is part of the Research Topic Planetary Health Impacts of Pandemic Coronaviruses View all 12 articles

Perceived effectiveness and sustainability of face masks among German citizens during the 2nd wave of the COVID-19 pandemic – a cross-sectional study

Provisionally accepted
Maren T. Fendt Maren T. Fendt *Walter Leal Filho Walter Leal Filho Jelena Barbir Jelena Barbir Juliane Boenecke Juliane Boenecke
  • Faculty of Life Sciences, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The COVID-19 pandemic, which began at the end of 2019, has led to a significant increase in the demand for face masks in Germany and around the globe. Since non-reusable masks are often not correctly disposed of and are not biodegradable, their increasing use harms the environment. Both the ongoing pandemic and the rising environmental pollution eventually pose a threat to human health. Yet, it is unclear whether mask users are conscious of this, and which factors influence their choice of face masks. This study investigates the user preferences, perceived effectiveness, and the sustainability of different mouth/nose protection (MNP) to lay the foundation for developing more sustainable and effective alternatives. A national (Germany-wide) cross-sectional study with a sample of 1036 participants was conducted. Descriptive data analysis was deployed to describe trends and socio-demographic differences among the respondents. Different socio-demographic groups among the respondents were compared regarding their infection risk perception, compliance towards the use of personal protective measures, their choice of MNP, and knowledge level of sustainability and effectiveness of various MNP using inferential statistics (Chi2 test/Whitney-Mann-U-test/Kruskal-Wallis-test). The results suggest that, in addition to protective effectiveness, the reusability of MNP is important to not just most respondents but especially to older participants. In contrast, the price, shape, and design were not as important. The knowledge level of the effectiveness and sustainability of MNP was high among the participants and was not associated with socioeconomic characteristics. However, the knowledge level directly influenced the choice of MNP. There seems to be an inclination to use sustainable MNP, provided their level of protection is similar to medical masks or FFP2/FFP3 masks. The willingness to wear a sustainable option increases with age.

    Keywords: Masks, Preferences, effectiveness, sustainability, Knowlege, Usage, Germany, COVID-19, protection, waste, Environmental threat

    Received: 31 Aug 2021; Accepted: 13 Jan 2022.

    Copyright: © 2022 Fendt, Leal Filho, Barbir and Boenecke. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Maren T. Fendt, Faculty of Life Sciences, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, 20099, Hamburg, Germany

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.