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If you鈥檙e a healthcare professional, you鈥檝e likely been asked this question 鈥� or some variation of it 鈥� countless times this bushfire season: is it worth wearing a mask or not?

Renowned respiration expert and Research Professor Brian Oliver said there are two important things to keep in mind in answering this question.

鈥淔irst, there are different kinds of masks that have very different functions,鈥� he said.

鈥淪urgical masks are virtually useless when it comes to bushfire smoke. These are only really helpful in a medical setting to prevent the spread of pathogens.

鈥淥ther masks, like N95 respirators (aka P2 masks), can be useful 鈥� but again there are different varieties.

鈥淪ome are designed for industrial applications to prevent the inhalation of fine particles (like silica) and others for medical uses (to protect during viral pandemics).

鈥淥thers have extra filters to eliminate dangerous toxins (like formaldehyde).

鈥淚t can be difficult to know which mask, if any, is appropriate, as bushfire smoke contains both volatile toxins and fine particles. None of the masks are designed for, or tested for, use in bushfires.鈥�

Confusingly, these different varieties also come under the same name, making it hard to differentiate, he warned.

The second point to consider is that endorsing masks may lead to adverse consequences 鈥� encouraging people to spend more time outdoors and increasing their exposure to the potentially harmful air.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to inadvertently convey the message that if you wear a mask it鈥檚 safe to be outdoors when the air quality is poor. And this might be how people react if mask usage becomes more widespread.

鈥淩eally, people should be staying indoors as much as possible and wearing the (appropriate) mask should they have no choice but to be outside. No mask is perfect and they鈥檙e only required to remove 95% of synthetic particles in safety tests,鈥� he said.

But, Prof Oliver concedes that something is usually better than nothing (except in the case of surgical masks).

So, a mask which is designed for toxin filtration is probably better than no mask, in terms of reducing particle intake.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a grey area and there鈥檚 still much we don鈥檛 know. My advice is to say 鈥榶es鈥� to masks 鈥� but be specific with your recommendation and make sure patients know where to source the right ones.

鈥淚mportantly, let patients know that the best protection they鈥檒l find for the time being is staying indoors.

鈥淲e still lack research on how this fire season will affect our medium- and long-term health, but we do know that asthma attacks and other acute effects have already skyrocketed.

鈥淯ntil we know more, it鈥檚 important to protect ourselves in whatever way we can,鈥� he concluded.

Image credit:聽漏stock.adobe.com/au/Per Grunditz