Yulin Liu ^1* Xiaonan Huang ¹ Huacui Huang ² Yu Xiang ¹ Jian Chen ³ Fengyu Zhang ¹ Qilin Zhao ¹ Chao Ou ⁴

• ¹ Suining Central Hospital, Suining, China
• ² Xindu District People's Hospital of Chengdu, Chengdu, China
• ³ People’s Hospital of Deyang City, Deyang, Sichuan Province, China
• ⁴ Chuanshan Ecological Environment Monitoring Station of Suining, Suining, China

During the COVID-19 pandemic, face masks have emerged as an indispensable necessity for individuals worldwide. However, there is currently a lack of control regarding the presence of hazardous substances in face masks. During the use of face masks, there is a potential health risk to the wearer owing to the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can be inhaled or come into contact with the skin. This study mainly focused on manufacturing and identification techniques for VOCs present in face masks, along with their possible harm to human health and underlying toxicological mechanisms, such as neurotoxicity, reproductive toxicity, genotoxicity, carcinogenicity, and teratogenicity. Furthermore, it provides a comprehensive overview of the standards pertaining to respiratory protective masks and surgical masks, elucidates the methodologies employed for VOCs identification, and presents an extensive compilation of studies highlighting the diverse types and concentrations of the identified VOCs. However, owing to the absence of national or industry standards for VOCs content in face masks, this study was unable to quantify the correlation between different types of VOCs and their impact on health. Additionally, there is a dearth of research regarding the potential health risks associated with VOCs present in masks and varying exposure time. Further studies should strive for a comprehensive understanding of the hazards associated with VOCs exposure through mask usage.