Kids' mask use 'should not be forced,' study authors argue

Kids shouldn’t be forced to wear face masks, additional researchers argue, after a study found evidence of unacceptable carbon dioxide levels reached after 3 minutes of wear.

While open air consists of about 0.04% carbon dioxide by volume, the German Federal Environmental Office caps off acceptable carbon dioxide volume in closed rooms at 0.2% (2,000 ppm), authors wrote. To conduct the study, the team first measured baseline carbon dioxide levels without a mask for 3 minutes. For each mask, the team measured 3-minutes of carbon dioxide in both inhaled and exhaled air, 3-minutes of carbon dioxide content during inhalation and 3-minutes of carbon dioxide content during exhalation. Results suggested levels of carbon dioxide exceeded acceptable levels after 3 minutes by a factor of 6; averages ranged between 13,120 and 13,910 parts per million (ppm) in inhaled air under surgical and filtering facepiece 2 (FFP2) masks.