8/11/2023 0 Comments Etc mosh pit gifParticles 0.1 microns and smaller are subject to Brownian motion and travel in a turbulent, zig-zag path, causing them to end up getting caught by filter fibers just as easily as larger particles. And you thought you’d never need that info ever in life, right? Yay, science. Now, you may remember from high-school science class, there’s an effect called Brownian Motion: the random motion of individual atoms causing microscopic particles to move, even in a sealed container. This is where things get weird because things get small. The 2019-nCoV virus (that causes COVID-19) is about 0.1 microns in size. That’s smaller than the 0.3 particles that N95 masks are rated to block? Huh? Why don’t they call it an N99 mask then? In actuality, an N95 filter catches closer to 99% of them. A 95% filter doesn’t mean that it lets 5% of viruses get through. Wearing a mask that’s hard to breathe through, increases fatigue, greatly reduces a health care worker’s performance, cognitive ability, and health.īut an N95 isn’t really a trade-off in safety for practicality. Why not 99% (N99 respirators) or 100% (N100 respirators)? Because the higher filtering respirators restrict airflow and make it harder for the wearer to breathe. So, if the CDC insists on the highest standards of protection, why settle for a mask that only filters out 95% of particles. depending on filtering level and vulnerability to oil-based fumes. Respirators can have other classifications like R99, P100, etc. The ’95’ identifies the respirator as being able to block least 95% of particles 0.3 microns or larger. The ‘N’ stands for a material that is NOT oil-repellent or oil-proof. N95 is a designation of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). And what that moshpit GIF has to do with any of this. In my previous article, I wrote about a study questioning the superiority of N95 respirators over surgical masks. In today’s Deep Dive we’re going to look into what “N95” actually means and why it’s important in infectious disease.
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