Over the weekend, Keeping Up with the Kardashians star Kourtney Kardashian shared a post saying that the disposable blue masks that many people wear to avoid spreading the novel coronavirus can cause a range of cancers, as well as high cholesterol and pregnancy complications.
As The Sun reported, the reality star, who is known to have an interest in alternative medicines and New Age remedies, posted a warning to her followers.
“Those Blue Masks Mandated at grocery stores & airplanes are made of PTFE, a carcinogen made of synthetic fluoride,” her Instagram story read. “According to Cancer.Org it increases the risk of liver, testicle, pancreas, kidney & breast tumors + ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, preeclampsia and high cholesterol.”
She also added that wearing them can induce a range of unpleasant symptoms that could lead to death.
“High exposure can cause influenza-like symptoms and hemorrhaging in the lungs, leading to suffocation.”
The 41-year-old included shocked and a mind-blown emoji, along with an image of a disposable blue surgical mask.
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a man-made chemical found in products like Teflon coatings.
However, as The New York Post reported, the American Cancer Society denounced the claim.
“There is no evidence to support the claim that the presence of PTFE in a mask causes cancer,” a representative said.
He added that as a doctor, he and thousands of his colleagues wear masks every day as part of their work.
In response, social media users attacked the Poosh founder, saying that she was spreading “utterly ridiculous” information without any evidence. Another said that while she used to be their favorite Kardashian, the information made them reconsider their opinion.
One person took their criticism a step further, saying that while they didn’t expect Kourtney to be intelligent, this “scaremongering” was a new level of “stupidity.”
It’s not the only criticism she has faced in recent days. Kourtney posted an image of her wearing a pair of black track pants, a white tank top, and a “Vote Kanye” baseball cap, as The Inquisitr reported, and people were not impressed.
Followers called her message a “letdown” and said that it wasn’t “cute and funny” that West was “meddling” in the election while knowing that their family likely wouldn’t be impacted as much as others would with a second Donald Trump term.
Others said that it was a poor use of the wide-reaching media platform, with her 102 million followers, to encourage people to vote for the Yeezy founder.
