Abstract
This comparative effectiveness study evaluates aerosol particle leak and standard surgical mask fit with 3 elastomeric harness designs tested on mannequin heads and human participants using US Occupational Safety and Health Administration N95 fit factor requirements.
Highlights
Because COVID-19 can be transmitted by airborne aerosols, the use of masks that both effectively filter particles and fit snugly to the face is important.[1]
Small and large mannequin heads corresponding to National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health anthropometric data on respirator users were printed 3-dimensionally.[6]
Infrared imaging showed hot spots around the eyes and nasal sidewalls when the mannequin heads were wearing only the surgical masks, indicating significant air leakage. This air leakage was reduced when harness design 1 was worn over the standard surgical mask (Figure 1B)
Summary
Because COVID-19 can be transmitted by airborne aerosols, the use of masks that both effectively filter particles and fit snugly to the face is important.[1] It is recommended that doctors and other health care professionals use N95 respirators instead of surgical masks while performing highrisk, aerosol-generating procedures.[1,2] early in the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, N95 respirators were difficult to obtain because of a global shortage of personal protective equipment.[3] Standard surgical masks tend to have a poor fit, resulting in their limited ability to protect the wearer against viral aerosolized droplets.[3,4] The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) uses an ambient aerosol condensation nuclei counter quantitative fit testing protocol to evaluate N95 respirator fit.[5] Here, we developed 3 elastomeric harness designs that allow users to meet the OSHA N95 fit factor requirement (FFR) when worn with a standard surgical mask
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