The Biden administration issued a the mask mandate asking individuals to wear masks on federal property and encourages all Americans to wear them in public for 100 days. Face covers are necessary as well in airplanes, trains, buses and airports, renewing questions about what types of masks offer the best protection against COVID-19, as well as where to find them.
The goal of the “100 Days Masking Challenge” is to stop the rapid spread of the coronavirus, which has already claimed the lives of more than 400,000 Americans. Indeed, a study published on January 19 in the journal Lancet Digital Health Studies found that increasing mask wear in the United States by just 10% would significantly reduce coronavirus transmission.
Wearing a mask is even more effective when the facial coat fits properly and effectively filters out aerosol particles, according to medical experts.
“In addition to filtering, matching is the most important factor,” said Devabhaktuni Srikrishna, founder of the global health platform Patient Knowhow, which organizes health education content for the general public.
“Even if you wear a high-quality mask, if it doesn’t touch your face, it will leak everywhere. The best masks have a very solid, tight seal so that the air does not leak. Indeed, a low fit is equal to filtering. low, “Srikrishna said.
Megan Ranney, an emergency physician at Rhode Island Hospital, ranked the generally available mask alternatives from the most effective to the least effective, noting that usually any kind of face covering is better than none.
According to Ranney, the N95 offers the highest filtering, followed by the so-called KN95 masks. Regular surgical masks are the next best option, followed by double-layer cloth masks with a filter worn between the two layers. Double-layer, single-layer cloth masks without filters tend to be the least effective, she said.
“Every time you take a step up, you get a little more protection. In cloths or homemade masks, the things that make them better include having two layers of cloth with a filter between the two layers, such as a vacuum bag filter, and making the cloth well woven, “Ranney said. .
Dr. Tom Peace, who was director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2009 to 2017, was the subject of Ranney’s advice in a tweet Sunday.
“N95 masks are the most protective, followed by three-layer surgical masks, then fabric masks. A fabric mask is much better than no mask, but we may need to step up our game with masks if it is contagious. Covid variant it’s starting to spread widely, “he said.
N95 – the king of all masks
An N95 approval rating by the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety means that a mask has been rigorously tested and verified by the federal government and filters at least 95% of airborne particles.
NIOSH maintains a list of brand-approved respirators. As N95-approved masks remain insufficient, however, experts still recommend that they be used only by healthcare providers.
“In general, I ask the public not to buy N95s because genuine ones are still in small quantities for health care workers,” Ranney said.
Meanwhile, proper matching, which is also key, is difficult for the layman to achieve.
“In healthcare, before we are allowed to go to care for patients with an N95 mask or an equivalent mask, we have to go through adjustment tests if they make us move our heads and see if a bitter spray penetrates the mask. The member of the public cannot take a matching test, so we were reluctant to recommend the public to wear N95s, “Ranney added.
Brian Wolin, whose chiropractor activity has slowed since the onset of the pandemic, sold N95-approved N95 masks through his Paterson, New Jersey-based Protective Health Gear. Initially, its goal was to help meet the masking needs of hospitals. He now urges the general public to wear respirators as well.
Health protection equipment
“We think it’s very important to sell to the general public now. I think if everyone on the planet wore one of these things for 30 days, we would take care of that,” Wolin said.
He acknowledged the importance of fitness testing in health care settings, but insists that ordinary people can easily model Protective Health Gear masks to form a tight seal on faces. A box of 50 respirators costs $ 199 at protectionhealthgear.com.
While NIOSH-approved N95 masks are among the most rigorously tested for a variety of factors, including filtration, breathability, and durability, there are other effective alternatives suitable for general use when N95s are not available.
Elastomeric masks
Srikrishna recommends reusable elastomeric masks, which are more durable and cost-effective than disposable N95s.
Elastomeric masks offer a high level of respiratory protection and can be matched with N95 disposable filters. The masks themselves are made of a flexible rubber-like material and can be adjusted to fit perfectly on the wearer’s face.
A 2020 study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons found that none of those health care workers who changed the N95 disposable masks for the elastomer variety – associated with a P100 filter – returned to wearing an N95 mask.
“Our clinicians felt very comfortable with the adjustment, knowing that it was an equivalent, if not superior, protection, and that these masks were intended for reuse,” said Dr. Sricharan Chalikonda, lead author of the study, in a statement.
The elastomeric mask housing is sold separately from the filter. Srikrishna recommends combining masks with a P95 filter, as opposed to a P100 filter, for easier breathability. Another plus for elastomeric masks: they are relatively easy to find. A 3M version is available on Amazon for $ 15, as are P95 filters – sold separately.
3M / Amazon.com
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also approves the use of elastomeric masks, calling them “equivalent protection” to N95 masks.
KN95 from China
KN95 masks look similar to N95 masks, but meet completely different standards. While N95 masks are NIOSH certified, KN95 masks meet Chinese government standards for certification.
Given that the quality of KN95 masks is extremely inconsistent, US experts do not respect them, especially those sold on platforms such as eBay and Amazon. A September report by ECRI, a non-profit health organization, found that up to 70% of KN95 masks do not meet US effectiveness standards. In other words, they did not filter 95% of the aerosol particles, as their name suggests.
Of course, regular consumers are unlikely to have the time and tools to inspect the masks themselves.
“In health care in general, we avoid KN95 right now,” said emergency physician Ranney. Ranney is the co-founder of GetUsPPE.org, a site that offers donated PPE to frontline workers and low-income communities.
Ranney said his organization received lots of donated KN95s, some of which failed the group’s inspection process. “Cloth masks that fit very well and have a layer filter will be more reliable,” she said.
The Food and Drug Administration, however, provides a list of KN95 masks that it authorizes for emergency use by healthcare professionals.
These include KN95 masks from Chengde Technology, which cost $ 15 for a pack of 10. They are available here.
Powecom KN95 masks are also FDA approved for emergency use. Office Depot sells a $ 10 for $ 10 package.
Powecom / Office Depot
KF94 from South Korea
KF94 masks, which meet the standards set by the South Korean government, are generally considered to be more consistent in quality than KN95 in China, but are not yet fully approved for use in US healthcare settings.
Korean cosmetics company Be Healthy sells KF94 masks imported from South Korea from a variety of different manufacturers. All products sold by the online company must meet South Korean standards, and some are also approved for use in Europe.
A study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, which compared the effectiveness of N95 and KF94 surgical masks, found that both types of masks are equally effective.
Unmasking counterfeits
Of course, given the shortage of N95 masks, counterfeits abound. The telltale signs of the N95 false respirators include CDCs without unmarked face masks or approval numbers and without NIOSH markings. Other red flags include decorative add-ons, such as sequins and applications for approval for children. The packaging claims that a product is “legitimate” or “authentic” may also indicate that it is not, according to the CDC.