The Pediatrician Cultural Association adheres to the appeal of Zero Waste and supports the use of fabric masks in the institutes instead of disposable
As a consequence of the various indications and in compliance with the ministerial directives, many school managers preferred to impose the obligation of surgical masks within the institutes as the washables would not be in accordance with.
Elena Uga, Laura Reali and Giacomo Toffol of the Cultural Pediatrician Association (ACP) intervened on the matter: “We would like to pay attention to the disadvantages of this choice: the tests of effectiveness of the use of surgical masks are related to use in health settings, such as hospitals, where the correct methods of use are clear. The surgical mask must be changed every four hours, for example, it should never be touched with your hands except by the elastic bands, it should never be supported on potentially contaminated surfaces and must be properly disposed of as a health refusal. (1) They are complex conditions to be respected, all the more in a school environment, in which children and young people are asked to put it and remove it several times during the day (they must wear it at the entrance and every time they get up, but remove it from the counter: certainly not sterile surface). Surgical masks are actually no longer safe tout court, the greatest security is closely linked to their correct use “.
This is why ACP adheres to the initiative of Zero Waste Italia and Europe today: a weekend of mobilization on 30 and 31 October for the choice of fabric masks in school, an initiative organized in collaboration with Beta Social Cooperative, EXTINSTION REBELLLION, Parents for Future Italia and Movement for the Happy Decrecoct. “The washable masks – the pediatricians continue – are adequate to the protection in non -health setting, as underlined by WHO and verified by numerous studies, and can be washed in an appropriate way at home. Therefore their use is manageable by adequately instructing families ». (2)
ACP is therefore aimed at the competent bodies so that it is revised The indication of the use of surgical masks at schoolborn from a misunderstanding compared to international indications, inviting institutions to put greater emphasis on their correct use, rather than on the type of mask. “This is because there are no evidence in support of the use of surgical in a school setting, while clear tests are available on the greater effectiveness of any type of mask in correct use conditions,” say pediatricians.
As the WHO explains: “Children in good health can wear a non -medical or fabric mask”.
The choice of surgical masks at school for daily use involves significant economic, social and environmental repercussions. According to Tuttoscuola’s calculations, for this school year they will be necessary 2.2 billion maskswhich will be disposed of among undifferentiated waste. If to this is added the weight of the packaging in which the masks are delivered to schools, the risk of a flooding environmental contamination is evident. Without considering the inappropriate disposal we see, every day more, the signs on the streets, in our countryside, in our rivers and seas.
The origin of a misunderstanding
In the report of the national CTS meeting of 31 August 2020, we recommend the use of “surgical or community masks” in the school field, apparently giving a preferential indication to the surgical. (3) The reference is to a document dated 21 August 2020 of the WHO, in which, however, we read: “Children in good health can wear a non -medical or fabric mask (…). The adult who provides the mask must make sure that the fabric mask is of the correct measure and cover the nose, mouth and chin of the child sufficiently ». (4)
The use of the surgical mask is indicated only for fragile subjects or greater risk of getting seriously ill with Covid-19 (children suffering from cystic fibrosis, cancer, immunosuppression).
Not even the ISS document of 21 August 2020 indicates the type of mask to be used, (5) while the possible use of “community masks” is also supported by A document from the prestigious Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of Atlanta of 8 April 2020. (6) Other studies from the same center subsequently reiterate the same results. (7)
It is therefore not that the regulatory and scientific agencies consume the exclusive use of surgical masks for all children at school.
“One wonders – conclude UGA, Real and Toffol – how these indications may have led to the decision to order several millions of surgical masks at school, when the purchase of washable could be indicated and carefully explain the rules of their correct use”.
