Kourtney Kardashian faces backlash for sharing mask conspiracy theory
The ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians’ family has been under immense criticism recently
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kourtney Kardashian faced backlash after she shared a theory that discouraged people from wearing the commonly available blue surgical masks.
On Halloween, prior to the Poosh founder attending a large party for her sister Kendall Jenner, she shared a mask conspiracy theory on her Instagram Story.
Kardashian, 41, posted a picture captioned, “Those Blue Masks Mandated at grocery stores & airplanes are made of PTFE, a carcinogen made of synthetic fluoride.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The warning continued: “According to Cancer.Org it increases the risk of liver, testicle, pancreas, kidney & breast tumors + ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, preeclampsia and high cholesterol. High exposure can cause influenza-like symptoms and hemorrhaging in the lungs, leading to suffocation.”
PTFE is a chemical found in nonstick pans such as Teflon.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kardashian captioned the post with the mind blown emoji “🤯.”
The American Chemical Society, which was cited in the post warning about blue masks, debunked that theory in a statement to The New York Post.
“There is no evidence to support the claim that the presence of PTFE in a mask causes cancer,” Dr. William Cance, chief medical and scientific officer of the ACS said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“As a surgical oncologist, I, along with thousands of colleagues in the health-care profession, have been wearing masks for years to protect patients from the spread of infections,” Cance added.
A study by the Stamford Advocate also notes that the chemicals in Teflon cookware only become harmful if heated to at least 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Nevertheless, Kardashian received a bunch of criticism online.
“Not Kourtney Kardashian posting about how masks can give you cancer. We know she is too rich to care about COVID but encouraging fans not to wear masks to protect them from COVID is a new low. That family can’t really be this tone deaf and stupid? Is it PR?” one person questioned.
A doctor warned on Twitter, “Social media is the way the majority of our generation gets info. @kourtneykardash told her 102 *million* Instagram followers today that masks cause cancer- just so unbelievably dangerous. Doctors/scientists, we have to keep combatting misinformation--no matter how tiring it gets.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“It’s one thing for a random people on social media to claim that masks cause cancer... it’s another for @kourtneykardash to be doing so on her Instagram stories to >100 million followers. UTTERLY F--KING UNACCEPTABLE,” another doctor said in agreement.
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“not kourtney kardashian posting on her story about how masks can give you cancer. encouraging 100m+ followers not to wear masks to protect them from COVID is a new low. the irony that she made staff wear masks at her privileged island party lol,” one person wrote in reference to Kim Kardashian’s maskless party in Tahiti last month.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Another social media user added: “The scariest thing to happen on Halloween this year is Kourtney Kardashian posting this utterly ridiculous post about blue masks with no medical evidence or proof, it's just some random screenshot. Medical professionals worldwide wear them but this screenshot means it's true…”
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Kardashian’s latest slip up comes after she was slammed for seemingly supporting her brother-in-law Kanye West for president in the 2020 election.
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Her family also caught heat after both Kim, 40, and their younger sister Kendall, 25, threw massive birthday parties amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.