"If you have this type of mask in stock, we ask that you stop distributing them and keep them in a safe place now."Some daycare educators had been suspicious of these grey and blue masks for a while because they felt like they were swallowing cat hair while wearing them, Radio-Canada has learned.
Since January, the province has distributed 116 million masks to the school network, 4.6 million of which were of the SNN200642 line. Metallifer sent a statement saying the company does not manufacture the masks, and that when it imported the products from China, they "were fully qualified at the time."This information was reported in 2014:
"Since the beginning of the pandemic, Metallifer has used its vast network of suppliers in China to offer its customers quality protective masks that meet current standards," said Metallifer president Michel Filion.
"Nanoform graphene" refers to the carbon coating on the masks. It's made of graphene, a form of carbon, in its nano form, meaning extremely miniscule particles in a single tight layer.
One Quebec kindergarten teacher said the recall, which school boards acted on Friday, was upsetting, especially after she'd noticed feeling unwell wearing masks lately.
Wearing masks everyday, "I find myself a bit more tired and have headaches more often, and I have heard this from numerous coworkers." She said she also noticed they smelled plasticky and would use her own medical masks as often as she could.
The danger was spotted in a preliminary risk assessment, Health Canada said, and there's an absence of "manufacturer's evidence" to prove the masks are safe.
Quebec authorities also said checks are underway with a government procurement office to "trace the establishments that could have received masks containing this particle."
A team of biologists, engineers and material scientists at Brown University examined graphene's potential toxicity in human cells. They found that the jagged edges of graphene nanoparticles, super sharp and super strong, easily pierced through cell membranes in human lung, skin and immune cells, suggesting the potential to do serious damage in humans and other animals.See also:
"These materials can be inhaled unintentionally, or they may be intentionally injected or implanted as components of new biomedical technologies. So we want to understand how they interact with cells once inside the body."
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It's listed as a potential irritant of skin and eyes, and potentially hazardous to breathe in or ingest.
"It's human smugglers who have absolutely no regard for life and it the administration who is allowing these smugglers to generate billions of dollars in profit because they're not securing the border like the last administration did. We were able to stop this huge flood, to go to 45 year lows in illegal smuggling of humans just to get it all back once the election was finalized."Via Rob Schmitt Tonight:
Comment: Washington D.C.'s Mayor Bowser manages to step in it again: