How did human respiratory protection evolve? A brief history of masks

What is the history of masks? How does it affect the evolution of human respiratory protection?

Prior to the modern era, there were records and explorations of masks

The usage of loose animal bladder skin to cover one's nose to filter dust dates back to the first century AD, when the philosopher and naturalist Pliny (23-79 AD) crushed cinnabar and did not inhale the poisonous mercury sulphide.

In the Middle Ages, the European medical profession believed that infectious diseases like cholera and the Black Death were caused by "miasma" in the air, hence some doctors would wear a beak mask when diagnosing respiratory diseases to avoid the "miasma." These masks contain spices and herbs that, though I'm not sure how, help to prevent the transmission of sickness to some level.

Leonardo da Vinci, a famous painter and naturalist who lived in Florence in the 16th century, advised that when he consulted his lord, he cover his face with a handkerchief soaked in water to protect his respiratory system from hazardous compounds such as smoking. The fire escape handbook still includes advanced tactics.

When the emperor at the court was dining, the waiters' mouths and noses were all covered with silk scarves woven with gold threads to protect the emperor's meal from being contaminated by the breath of those who served the emperor's food.

"In the palaces of the Yuan Dynasty, individuals who provided food covered their mouths and noses with silk towels to maintain their breath and not touch the food and drink," according to "Marco Polo Travels." And the most primitive mask is a silk handkerchief covering the mouth and nose.

To summarise, prior to contemporary times, people's concept of respiratory protection was still rudimentary, and it was only through scientific research that this changed.

In recent times, there is a new concept of respiratory protection.

Robert Brown, a Scottish scientist, created the "Brown motion" method in 1827, which theorised that the collision of fast-moving gas molecules would cause random bouncing motion of extremely small particles, and theoretically explored the dust-protective effect of masks.

Lewis Haslett, an American, devised the "lung protector" in 1849, which was essentially a bulky breathing mask with two flap valves and a wool filter to keep dust out. A patent application was filed in the United States, with patent number 6529, which is still available in the US archives.

Pasteur, a French microbiologist, demonstrated in 1861 that there exist microorganisms in the air that can ruin items using the famous gooseneck flask experiment. This was a watershed moment because it was the first time anyone discovered that, in addition to chemical poisons, there are also chemical poisons in the air. There exist biological bacteria, which creates the theoretical groundwork for the future design and use of bacterial protective masks.

The medical profession introduced sterile surgery in 1876, which means that all surgical machinery, surgical gowns, surgical caps, and rubber gloves must be strictly sanitised, but the surgeon's mouth was not yet protected.

In the same year, German scientist Robert Koch discovered the anthrax bacteria and proposed the famous Koch rule in the field of microorganisms, which explains how to determine the association between certain microbes and diseases. The content is separated into four sections:

Each case has the same bacterium, which does not exist in healthy people.

Such germs can be cleansed and cultured in culture medium to be isolated from the host.

The same sickness will return if a healthy and susceptible host is inoculated with a pure culture of this microbe.

From the experimentally infected host, this microbe can be extracted and cultivated again.

Fruger, a German microbiologist, shown through research in 1897 that medical professionals talking to the wound during surgery might trigger infection and inflammation. Bacteria in saliva, such as Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus, can contaminate wounds."

Based on this, German physician Mikulitz recommended the use of a sterile gauze mask to cover the mouth and nose during performing surgery in the same year. "Mikulitz masks" are a type of mask. This is the first medical mask recorded in the contemporary sense (Mikulicz's mask). Since then, "wearing a mask" has become synonymous with medical personnel.

Of course, the masks were initially relatively primitive, consisting of only one or several layers of gauze wrapped over the face, and the ease and comfort were far from that of modern masks.

In 1899, a British surgeon refined the design by cutting the gauze into a rectangle and placing a frame-shaped thin wire support between the gauze and the nose and mouth, leaving a little gap between the gauze and the nose and mouth. The mask's flaw is that it makes it difficult to breathe.

Then a French surgeon named Paul Bertie created a 6-layer gauze mask that he sewn onto the surgical gown's collar and simply switched on as needed, and then he enhanced the design by adding a looped strap. Glue the gauze to the back of the head or the ear.

Thus was born the shape of the modern face mask!

Spanish Flu, World War I, and the Mask Epidemic in 1918

The Spanish flu during World War I was the pivotal event that propelled masks from surgical medical devices to the general populace.

The fatal pandemic of the century began on March 11, 1918, in the Funston Barracks in Kansas, USA, spread over the European battlefields of World War I during the war, and subsequently swept the globe, infecting more than 30% of the world's population. In the age before it was born, 50-100 million people died.

This statistic exceeds the total war death tolls of World Wars I and II, and it is one of the world's deadliest infectious illness outbreaks.

Although Spain did not have the highest death toll, European countries were at war at the time, and most countries censored knowledge of the outbreak, whereas Spain was a neutral country during World War I and allowed the media to report on the pandemic, therefore this illness became known as the "Spanish Flu."

During the outbreak of the flu, masks became a national item. People in all countries, especially the Red Cross and other medical personnel, were obliged to wear masks in order to combat the outbreak. Photos were invented during that time period, and we may still learn from many of them today. In black and white historical photographs, people are seen wearing masks to protect themselves from the flu of the time.

Apart from the broad popularity of masks, World War I saw the introduction of gas masks. In the Battle of Ypres in April 1915, the merciless German army deployed chlorine gas as a weapon against the British and French coalition forces, resulting in almost 5,000 casualties. A soldier died of poisoning, while British and French soldiers discovered that wild boars miraculously survived chlorine gas strikes, while other wild animals perished.

After being triggered by chlorine gas, investigators discovered that the wild boar would instinctively arch the ground and bury its nose in the loose earth. The harmful gas was filtered by the soil. The military was inspired by this and produced a gas mask in the style of a pig's mouth. Loose particles like activated carbon were placed inside the mask to absorb harmful gas.

Modern Masks are Continually Changing

The masks that have played such a crucial part in the pandemic are still evolving:

London, England, was covered in the heavy fog of the Industrial Revolution in December 1952. Due to a lack of wind, significant air pollution resulted in the deaths of 12,000 people and the recorded cases of 100,000 respiratory ailments for five days. The fog in London is like a gigantic static gas chamber, with masks on everyone. Fighting industrial pollution became a requirement for individuals at the time.

In the fight against pollution, mask materials are also changing. Non-woven mask technology was developed in the 1960s, mostly employing electrostatic fibre filter cotton. The introduction of these health-care measures for various types of work has strongly promoted the development and application of modern mask technology at the time, when the United States promulgated the "Occupational Health Law" in 1970 and established the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Today, masks have become a mature industry with an annual output value of over 10 billion, and the fit, filtration efficiency, comfort, and convenience of masks have also been greatly improved. 5 and many other sub-categories, masks can be seen everywhere in hospitals, in food processing plants, in mines, in smoggy cities.