Performance evaluation of surgical, N95 and FFP2 respiratory masks by manikin-based sampling system for assessing the protection against airborne dust

Abstract

In this study, the particle penetration through various respirator filters (N95, FFP2 and surgical) were measured by manikin-based sampling system. In the months of June to November, 102 samples were taken for 44 days. A specific flow (9 L per minute) of air containing suspended particles (about 1.05 m3) was passed through the breathing filters and the particle leakage was determined. The personal cascade impactor (Sioutas, SKC) was utilized in order to classification of penetrated particles in the ranges of 2.5, 1 and 0.5 μm. Protective performance of masks installed on the manikin face is increased from the surgical to the N95 and the FFP2 mask. There was no significant difference between the performance of N95 and FFP2 but there is a significant difference between performances of these two masks with surgical mask. Due to the non-flexibility of the N95 and its lack of fixation on the face, the amount of penetration is higher than FFP2. Despite of lower price (FFP2 0.4 $, surgical 0.1 $, N95 0.6 $) and structural feature (double layer structure), FFP2 has the highest performance amongst the three types of masks studied. The results suggest the use of FFP2 masks to protect against dust contamination.