Birdwatch Note Rating
2023-08-18 16:12:25 UTC - HELPFUL
Rated by Participant: 6E5B996CB01DE2EAD046C4EFC3ED01BC70FB61AB73997D9A6F7E9CFE756FB023
Participant Details
Original Note:
These masks were employed to prevent the wearer from eating soil (geophagia, a form of pica), becoming sick and dying. The practice of geophagia goes far back to Africa. Soils however can be contaminated with ascarid worms, parasites, or heavy metals. https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/geophagia/ https://www.thoughtco.com/geophagy-eating-dirt-1433451 https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/what-is-dirt-eating https://content.ucpress.edu/chapters/11342.ch01.pdf https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/13/us/southern-practice-of-eating-dirt-shows-signs-of-waning.html
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