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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Epidemiology and Prevention
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1460981

The bacterial burden of worn face masks -observational research and literature review

Provisionally accepted
Kai Kisielinski Kai Kisielinski 1,2*Barbara Wojtasik Barbara Wojtasik 3Aleksandra Zalewska Aleksandra Zalewska 3David M Livermore David M Livermore 4Agata Jurczak-Kurek Agata Jurczak-Kurek 3*
  • 1 Independent researcher, Smart medical solutions, scientific and technological services and research work, clinical medicine, orthopedic and trauma surgery, emergency medicine, social medicine, 40212 Düsseldorf, Germany
  • 2 Private Practice, Düsseldorf, Germany
  • 3 Department of Genetics and Biosystematics, Faculty of Biology, University of Gdańsk, 80-308, Gdansk, Poland
  • 4 Norwich Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, England, United Kingdom

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

    We investigated and quantified bacterial accumulation in facemasks used by the general population, using 16S rRNA (Sanger Sequencing), culture and biochemical analysis along with Rose Bengal staining. Additionally, a systematic overview of the literature on face mask contamination was undertaken. We found an average bacterial load of 4.24 × 10 4 CFU recovered/mask, with a maximum load of 2.85 × 10 5 CFU. This maximum is 310 times higher than the limit value for contamination of ventilation system outlet surfaces specified by the German standard VDI 6022. Biochemical and molecular identification predominantly found Staphylococcus species (80%), including Staphylococcus aureus, along with endospore-forming Bacillus spp. Literature reports also indicate contamination of masks by bacterial and fungal opportunists of the genera Acinetobacter, Aspergillus, Alternaria, Bacillus, Cadosporium, Candida, Escherichia, Enterobacter, Enterococcus, Klebsiella (including K. pneumoniae), Micrococcus, Microsporum, Mucor, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus and Streptococcus. Bacterial counts increase linearly with wearing duration, and prolonged use may affect the skin and respiratory microbiomes, promoting consequential eye, skin, oral and airway conditions. These aspects underscore the urgent need for further research and a risk-benefit analysis in respect of mask use, particularly given their unproven efficacy in disrupting the transmission of respiratory viruses and their adverse social consequences.

    Keywords: 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, adverse effects, Bacterial contamination, Fluorescent staining, Masks, N95, Personal protective equipment, risk

    Received: 18 Jul 2024; Accepted: 30 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Kisielinski, Wojtasik, Zalewska, Livermore and Jurczak-Kurek. 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:
    Kai Kisielinski, Independent researcher, Smart medical solutions, scientific and technological services and research work, clinical medicine, orthopedic and trauma surgery, emergency medicine, social medicine, 40212 Düsseldorf, Germany
    Agata Jurczak-Kurek, Department of Genetics and Biosystematics, Faculty of Biology, University of Gdańsk, 80-308, Gdansk, Poland

    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.