The science is irrefutable: the vaccine, masks, social distancing, and ventilation are all essential for curbing the spread and mutation of this damn virus. Unfortunately, lacking any one of those precautions puts a person at risk. This posts focuses on masks because, while something is better than nothing, disposable surgical masks & your average cloth mask just doesn’t cut it against the delta variant. The best choice is a respirator mask: N95, KF94, or KN95. Unsurprisingly, there’s a grey market for respirator masks, which is lousy with no-good counterfeiting scammers. So, how do you find a mask that actually keeps you safe?
My sincerest of condolences to everyone who’s lost a loved one to covid, is struggling with long covid, cannot get vaccinated, and/or is feeling threatened & abandoned by people whose decisions are motivated by politics or conspiracy… And enormous gratitude to healthcare workers, teachers, and all the essential workers who’ve kept us safe & fed, and who’ve single-handedly prevented this country from collapsing.
*None of the links I share on this page benefit me financially or otherwise.
HIGHLIGHTS (scroll down for more detail):
- Trusted suppliers of N95, KF94 &/or KN95 masks:
- Be Healthy USA: behealthyusa.net/
- Bonafide Masks bonafidemasks.com/
- ProjectN95: ProjectN95.org
- DemeTECH: www.demetech.us
- Masks for kids (unfortunately many are sold out):
- Enro masks: https://enro.com/collections/kids
- Happy Masks Pro: https://www.happymasks.com/collections/pro
- AireTrust Nano Mask: https://4cair.com/product/4cair-nano-mask-for-kids/
- High-quality reusable/washable fabric masks (scroll down for more detail):
- Vog Masks (https://www.vogmask.com/pages/technical)
- Happy Masks (https://www.happymasks.com)
- Halo Masks (https://halolife.io/blogs/learn/halo-mask-filtration)
- Fixes for disposable surgical masks (demonstration of leakiness below):
- Reusable harness from www.fixthemask.com/, or made with your local 3-D printer.
- Or, at least tie knots in the ear loops to make them tighter.
- Scroll down to the very bottom for tips on safely reusing masks.
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- The efficacy of masks is sometimes questioned because a covid virus is 0.1 microns, while most masks have openings of 0.3 microns or larger. Wouldn’t a virus just slide through a mask? The answer is NO, and the reasons include:
- 1–> Viruses never float around on their own— they’re always bonded to something, such as a water droplet or aerosol. Particles generated while talking and breathing are around 1 micron.
- 2–> Viruses don’t follow a straight-line trajectory. “Brownian motion [is] the name given to a physical phenomenon in which particles smaller than 0.3 microns move in an erratic, zig-zagging kind of motion.”
- 3–> Even if a virus managed to ditch its droplet/aerosol chaperone and aim for the exact center of the hole in a mask, it’ll get drawn to the fiber due to “electrostatic absorption.” For a covid virus, the odds of getting “nothing but net” are very low.
- Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/11/fact-check-n-95-filters-not-too-large-stop-covid-19-particles/5343537002/
- For perspective: 1 micron = 1/1000th of a millimeter; a human hair is ~100 microns in diameter. Source: https://www.aerosol.mech.ubc.ca/what-size-particle-is-important-to-transmission/
- Details on each type of respirator mask:
- N95:
- Particle Filtration Efficiency (PFE) = 95% at 0.3 microns
- Attaches to the head with: head straps
- Ideally reserved for healthcare workers, but a good source is ProjectN95.org
- Regulating country: USA
- KN95:
- Particle Filtration Efficiency (PFE) = 95% at 0.3 microns
- Attaches to the head with: either head straps or ear loops
- Good source: Powecom brand from BonafideMasks.com or any KN95 from ProjectN95.org
- Regulating country: China
- KF94:
- Particle Filtration Efficiency (PFE) = 94% at 0.4 microns
- Attaches to the head with: ear loops
- Good source: Any KF94 from BeHealthyUSA
- Regulating country: South Korea
- N95:
- Aaron Collins, aka Mask Nerd, is a Mechanical Engineer who specializes in aerosols. He’s tested dozens of masks and shared the results with us in an incredible spreadsheet.
- Mask Nerd recommends the following two sites for KF94s, KN95s, or N95s:
- Be Healthy USA: behealthyusa.net/
- Bonafide Masks bonafidemasks.com/
- Mask Nerd on Twitter: twitter.com/masknerd
- Mask Nerd’s videos on YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/coll0412
- If you love data, check out his exhaustive spreadsheet!: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1M0mdNLpTWEGcluK6hh5LjjcFixwmOG853Ff45d3O-L0/htmlview
- Mask Nerd recommends the following two sites for KF94s, KN95s, or N95s:
- The New York Times article about buying masks is behind its paywall (is that ethical?… www.nytimes.com/2021/02/17/technology/personaltech/buy-real-n95-mask.html) Here are its takeaways:
- Say you find a mask on Amazon that gets a thumbs up by someone like Mask Nerd or Wirecutter… well it may still be a counterfeit. The article’s author, Brian X. Chen, learned that Amazon claims to keep an eye out for scams but they’re still out there.
- What to do? Buy directly from the manufacturer.
- This nonprofit “buys bulk orders of masks and breaks them up so people can buy smaller batches”: ProjectN95.org
- Trustworthy manufacturers include the following, but usually only sell in bulk: www.Bonafidemasks.com (also recommended by Mask Nerd) & www.demetech.us.
- Wirecutter, the New York Time’s review site, has tested many masks and recommended four (but two of them are surgical masks, which are problematic per the next item): www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/where-to-buy-n95-kn95-masks-online/
- *You might consider crosschecking these picks with Mask Nerd’s testing data in #1, above.
- What about masks for kids!?!
- Wirecutter‘s specific suggestions for kids include the following. Unfortunately many of the companies are out of stock.
- Enro masks: https://enro.com/collections/kids
- Happy Masks Pro: https://www.happymasks.com/collections/pro
- AireTrust Nano Mask: https://4cair.com/product/4cair-nano-mask-for-kids/
- Wirecutter‘s specific suggestions for kids include the following. Unfortunately many of the companies are out of stock.
- Are reusable cloth masks over? Not necessarily– these fabric masks have high quality certifications:
- Vog Masks (https://www.vogmask.com/pages/technical)
- Meets KF94 specification of PFE of 94% at 0.4 microns
- Filter is built in.
- Can’t be laundered (submerged), but can wipe/spray with 70% alcohol.
- Happy Masks (https://www.happymasks.com)
- 99.9% particulate matter efficiency at 0.3 microns
- Filter is built in.
- Can be laundered, good for 250 hours of use.
- Halo Masks (https://halolife.io/blogs/learn/halo-mask-filtration)
- PFE averages at 98.8% at 0.1 microns
- Filter is removable and replacements must be purchased.
- Vog Masks (https://www.vogmask.com/pages/technical)
- Disposable surgical masks, though more comfortable & cheap, are just too loose as demonstrated by this video from Professor of Chemistry Dr. Jose-Luis Jimenez (@jljcolorado) & shared by Epidemiologist Dr. Eric Fiegl-Ding: twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1425509411267690500
- Surgical masks can be made less leaky with a reusable harness, such as those sold at www.fixthemask.com/ or made by your local 3-D printer with plans found here: twitter.com/PlasticFull/status/1425621777074503681. Or, you can tie knots in the ear loops to make them tighter, but that’s still not great.
- The Masks4All Reddit community shares thoughts, tips, and hot sales: www.reddit.com/r/Masks4All/
- The folks in this community are gems… but it can’t hurt to double-check any suggestions to ensure you’re buying from a reputable source. And, you might consider crosschecking any suggestions with Mask Nerd’s testing data in #1, above.
- If you’ve already bought a slew of masks and suspect they’re not up to par, toss a cloth mask over top to breathe easier (metaphorically).
- How to reuse masks!? I wish this topic were discussed a bit more…
- Here’s one of the better explanations I’ve seen from arstechnica.com/science/2021/03/mask-up-how-to-choose-and-maintain-the-best-masks-for-use-against-covid-19/#h14:
- Do not reuse disposable surgical masks.
- “…The CDC says N95 masks can be used for up to five total uses, not to exceed eight hours collectively.”
- “…After five uses, the integrity of the mask (its fit in particular) has degraded beyond a safe point for use. The same goes for anything above eight hours of total use. To ensure integrity, users should perform a seal check with each reuse.”
- Click to download a PDF infosheet from the CDC website: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2018-130/pdfs/2018-130.pdf?id=10.26616/NIOSHPUB2018130
- “If you’re following these procedures, then a rotation policy that allows for at least a week between each mask’s use, while storing them in individual breathable paper bags in the interim, is highly advisable.”
- If you buy a high quality fabric mask, be sure to read its specific washing instructions. For example, some masks are machine washable, others should not be submerged, some have a filter insert that cannot be washed, and others can be wiped or sprayed with alcohol every night.
- Here’s one of the better explanations I’ve seen from arstechnica.com/science/2021/03/mask-up-how-to-choose-and-maintain-the-best-masks-for-use-against-covid-19/#h14: