On Wednesday, the World Socialist Web Site interviewed Nicolas Smit, an engineer and scientist in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, who is a leading global advocate fighting to raise awareness about masks and elastomeric respirators during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This interview is the first testimony provided to the Global Workers’ Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic, which aims to expose the lies and misinformation used to justify the official response to the pandemic that has led to the needless deaths of millions worldwide. Below the video are links to studies referenced by Smit and high-quality masks that can keep workers safe from airborne transmission.

Follow Nicolas Smit on Twitter @PPEtoheros and on LinkedIn here.

Read the statement announcing the Global Workers’ Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic. To participate, complete the form at the bottom of the page.

Links to elastomeric respirators and other masks, including for children:

• Envo
• Dentec
• GVS (ships to many countries globally)
• MSA (ships to many countries globally)
• 3M (ships to many countries globally)
• MaskForce1
• Dorma
• One Canopy
• In Canada
• In United Kingdom
• Additional elastomeric respirators
• Masks and respirators for children
• Other masks for adults
• Mask bracers (also shows how to make your own at home for free)

References from the interview:

• Minute Physics video on how N95s work
• June 2020 American College of Surgeons study, which found that 2,000 health care workers unanimously preferred elastomeric respirators.
• 2015 CDC study which showed that elastomeric respirators would be the least costly form of PPE.
• September 2017 CDC pandemic presentation on elastomeric respirators
• September 2019 CDC pandemic presentation at a conference in Baltimore
• CDC recommendations from SARS to avoid surgical masks unless as a last resort
• CDC report on H1N1, saying surgical masks should only be chosen over no protection due to their ineffectiveness at protecting someone from airborne viruses.
• Study on surgical masks and bracers
• News video and article about the CDC successfully using elastomeric respirators for 25 years at the Texas Center for Infectious Diseases
• June 30, 2021, US government website update to say they sent letters to hospitals to let them know the N95 shortage was over
• CDC recommendations to use elastomeric respirators
• OSHA recommendations to use elastomeric respirators
• OSHA’s updated PPE requirements for their workplace inspectors to use elastomeric respirators in high risk workplaces during the COVID-19 pandemic
• March 2021 study showing that 28 percent of health care workers performing occupational CPR with N95s lost their seal and breathed in contaminated air, while those wearing elastomeric respirators never lost their seal
• Study from Finland showing that no high risk health care workers provided with N95s and elastomeric respirators were infected at work, while those in lower risk areas of the hospital were given surgical masks and had a 63 percent chance of infection
• 2018 study on elastomeric respirators in a health care setting
• Study on how elastomeric respirators are safe and more sustainable than N95s during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Open letter from American Mask Manufacturers Association sent to President Biden and others about US PPE manufacturing capacity