How does a sanding mask compare with a disposable medical mask?
[Moderator Edit: I'm reopening this question by request from third parties because medical staff around the world are being forced to use masks such as these.]
How does a sanding mask compare with a disposable medical mask? I have some on hand. Would that be a reasonable thing to wear to protect myself and family members (corona virus)? Or would it give even less protection than a bandanna or a disposable medical mask?
Update: I'm asking about the range of particle and droplet size that the two types of mask keep in/out (according to specs, and disregarding particles that can enter around the edges).
I am not asking whether you think someone should or should not wear a mask.
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For protecting against saw dust (sanding), they work great!
For protecting from biological risks in a medial setting, they're up to half as effective.
Assuming we're discussing the respirator in the photo you uploaded with your question, note that it has a plastic valve in its center. This is an exhilaration valve. The exhilaration valve is a one-way valve that permits air to pass unobstructed out of the respirator. This is great when doing construction work; it makes breathing (out) easier.
However, respirators with exhalation valves necessarily do not filter your exhalation, so they are not very effective at preventing the spread of biological infectious agents, such as the coronavirus. In fact, the CDC recommends that if you only have an N95 mask with an exhalation valve, then you should wear it along with a surgical mask on the outside 1.
One of the biggest issues with the spread of COVID-19 is that many people who contract the virus (and can spread it to others) never experience symptoms (asymptomatic) or they can spread the virus for up to 14-days before they experience symptoms (pre-symptomatic) [2]. Therefore, it's very important that you use a respirator that filters both your inhalations and your exhalations.
That said, any filter is better than no filter.
Particle Size-Selective Assessment of Protection of European Standard FFP Respirators and Surgical Masks against Particles-Tested with Human Subjects
The tested FFP respirators and SMs in this study were observed to have the worst protection against particles between 0.263 and 0.384??m. The protection factors of FFP respirators against particles in the size range of 0.093–1.61??m were not size dependent. The size ranges of viral and bacterial particles fall into this size range, and they are expected to have similar PFs. The FFP respirators provided about 11.5 to 15.9 times better protection than the SMs, suggesting that SMs are not a good substitute for FFP respirators when concerns exist about airborne transmission of bacterial and viral pathogens.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5058571/
That's a FFP2 in your image and they are saying it's 12-16x better PF (Protection Factor) than a surgical mask (SM)
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