Tobacco: prolonged wearing of a mask would amplify the harmful effects of cigarettes

in collaboration with

Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)

Since the arrival of the Covid, wearing a mask has been part of everyday life, especially among people working indoors and in the medical field. A mechanical barrier and a way to protect those around you from the spread of the virus. But according to a new study published Thursday, July 7, 2022 in European Journal of Preventive Cardiologyamong smokers, the association of the mask and the cigarette would however be harmful to health.

Increased monoxide and impaired blood vessels

To arrive at this hypothesis, the University of Athens analyzed the levels of carbon monoxide for one month in 40 smokers (conventional cigarettes and non-combustible cigarettes of heated tobacco) and 40 non-smokers, during their working hours and their days. rest without a mask.

The results show that smoking during the hours of wearing a mask would lead to a double increase in exhaled carbon monoxide accompanied by an alteration in the function of blood vessels. Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas inhaled through cigarette smoke that binds to red blood cells in place of oxygen.

• Thus, in conventional cigarette smokers, exhaled carbon monoxide after deep breathing increased from 8.00 parts per million (ppm) at baseline to 12.15 without a mask and 17.45ppm with a mask;
• In non-smokers, monoxide levels did not differ with or without a mask.

Professor Ignatios Ikonomidis, lead author of the study draws logical conclusions: “The study suggests that smoking any tobacco product has become even more dangerous during the Covid-19 pandemic due to the need to wear a mask for long hours”.

Tobacco as a risk factor in times of covid

For Dr. Gérald Kierzek, emergency physician, the results of this study indeed make sense: without a mask, gas exchange and air renewal inside the body are necessarily more fluid. “But we should not be mistaken about the danger here and take the opportunity to quickly conclude that the mask is a problem” he reacts. “The danger here is not wearing a mask, which is harmless, but smoking, which is harmful to health”.

And remember that the period is conducive to quitting smoking: “Smoking while protecting yourself from a respiratory virus is the real contradiction” he insists.