CPCSupport:Generic Mask Tips

Still drafting...

With the rise of people masking in 2024 on their own volition, probably owing to nasty, longer-lasting COVID variants, I thought it would be worth reiterating what we've learned about masking over the last few years. Some are still masking with surgicals, which, as we've covered, is not adequate. For those not in the know (or those not wanting to learn about qualitative fit testing, which you should definitely learn, by the way), well, let's put it this way:

• OSHA requires a passing fit factor of 100 for respiratory protection.
• Surgical masks, which leak air, have a fit factor of 2.

Is 2/100 a passing grade?

Okay, okay, I get it, you get it, surgical masks are bad. At this point, you might be asking for mask recommendations, but I'm not going to give you any, because honestly, your face is different, you ought to do fit testing, and I'm not one to encourage brand loyalty (with one patented exception). So instead, I'm going to cast broad strokes on things learned over the past years with different mask designs from thousands of CPC tests. With that being said, if you do want a list of masks for some reason...

The NPPTL

NIOSH maintains a list of certified N95-N100 masks on their certified equipment list website. Just go to 'Quick Searches,' then either 'Respirators of Current Interest' or 'Filtering Facepiece respirators,' then choose a certification.

NIOSH is one of the few government entities with a public list, as far as I can tell.

But wait: Before you choose a certification, there have been reports that certain newer Chinese masks, that are about as cheap as the oldest NIOSH masks, may be better than the cheapest NIOSH approved masks?? So you might want to read on...

But let's say despite this, you don't care about upgrading your mask, and you don't want to waste your collection of surgical masks you've collected. Though N95s have fallen in price steeply to as low as 25 cents each, maybe I don't know, you've bankrupted yourself in 2020 being paying a scalper $100+ for a box of surgical masks? If... if this is you, take a look at this:

Mask Fitters

Back in 2020, when actually good PPE was hard to come by, it was discovered by some that a surgical mask could be made to fit, and even pass OSHA's 100 fit factor requirement, simply with some rubber. They're called mask braces. You can see an example of one in action here. So if you ever find yourself in a situation where you have to use one of the crappy masks described below, it may be worthwhile spending a little more to get substantially more protection out of your existing crappy masks. You can even make them yourself with a few clicks on your favorite search engine.

"One of the crappy masks described below"

Cloth Masks

There is one exception to the mask fitter rule. If you're wearing a cloth mask, or some other mask that doesn't have meltblown in it, you can forget about the mask fitter. They let pretty much any problematic particle in, and especially when wet (contrary to popular belief). On top of that, they're hard to breathe in too! Fortunately, these masks purport to be 'reusable,' so hopefully you haven't wasted too much money on these.

Earloop Masks

A person on Reddit (I can't find the source, unfortunately) pointed out that earloop masks fit one position and one position only, compared to headband masks, which effectively have infinite positions (within constraints.) This means if your earloops don't fit perfectly, you likely won't get a good fit with them at all. With headband masks, you can at least attempt to adjust the headband.

Masks in this category notoriously include:

- Most KN95 masks (more on this later). - Pretty much all KF94 masks.

Yes, despite the fact KF94 masks hav