According to a press release from the The Hamilton County Health Department, it is suspending distribution of the cloth face masks that were distributed throughout the state by the Governor’s Unified Command Group.
The press release states that it has been reported that the cloth masks, manufactured by Renfro, are coated with Silvadur. Silvadur is an anti-microbial substance commonly applied to fabrics to reduce odor causing bacterial growth.
Only trace amounts of Silvadur are applied to the fabric and that amount will continually diminish with each wash. Until more data is made available about the application of Silvadur to these masks, the public is asked to refrain from using and distributing the masks.