Face masks are supposed to help you avoid catching the dreaded coronavirus disease (COVID-19). But what if they contain harmful chemicals that damage your lungs?

Environmental and health watchdog EcoWaste Coalition called on local health authorities Tuesday, April 13 to ensure that the face masks being sold in the market do not contain nanographene--a novel nanomaterial that may compromise people's lungs.  

"The government must ensure that face masks and other personal protective equipment are safe from graphene and other potentially toxic nanoparticles that can be inhaled and get trapped in our lungs,” Thony Dizon, EcoWaste Coalition Chemical Safety Campaigner said in a statement.

The group's push to rid the market of graphene-containing face masks came on the heels of a recent advisory by Health Canada telling the public to ditch such masks “because there is a potential that they could inhale graphene particles, which may pose health risks.”

Health Canada, which is equivalent to the Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines, had recalled face masks labeled to contain graphene or biomass graphene after receiving complaints of breathing difficulties from wearers of such masks. A subsequent assessment of available studies indicated that graphene-laced face masks had the potential to cause early lung toxicity in animals.

Through a letter sent to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the EcoWaste Coalition urged the government to issue a public health advisory, in line with the precautionary principle, that will warn the Filipino people against the potential health risks from wearing face masks containing nanographene. They also want the manufacture, importation, distribution and sale of such products stopped.

Jim Thomas, research director of Quebec, Canada-based ETC Group, said: “Face masks are supposed to keep citizens safe not put them at further risk. Rushing untested nanomaterials into millions of face masks is an example of unscrupulous pandemic profiteering."
"Governments need to urgently reassure parents, workers, and other citizens that commitment to the precautionary principle and protecting health will not be cast aside to let risky tech companies make a killing in a pandemic," he added.

Preliminary market monitoring by the EcoWaste Coalition revealed that graphene-laced face masks were being sold by third-party dealers in popular online shopping platforms.

The group also found wholesalers and retailers in Bambang and Binondo, Manila selling nano masks containing unidentified nano fibers.

In addition to issuing a public health advisory, the Quezon City-based group also requested the FDA to determine which of the 93 FDA-notified medical face masks, as well as the numerous unnotified face masks that have flooded the market, contain nanographene.

"Manufacturers must also conduct safety tests on nanomaterials used in the production of face masks and make the results publicly available before placing such products on the market,” the group insisted.