N95 Masks: Let's Clear The Air.

[tac]

Coronavirus, being as virus, can be absorbed via the sclerotic membrane - ie. the eyeballs.

 

[EHJ]

Coronavirus, being as virus, can be absorbed via the sclerotic membrane - ie. the eyeballs.

 

[tac]

'available in a range of colours'

Ranging, that is, from back to medium grey or Shlem-tinted Soviet-era green.

 

[wp4]

They usually combine the two things into 1 sentence.
"The respirator doesn't work for the public, and we need them to protect our healthcare workers!"

If this gets bad enough, I plan on:
Respirator, goggles, gloves. Would wear a friggin tyvek suit if I had them, but will settle for taking clothes off outside and bagging them, to be washed with laundry sanitizer. Shoes also dumped at the door and sprayed with bleach solution. Car disinfected as best as possible upon return as well.

 

[MannyGlocks]

I have a rather sanguine perspective about 'the virus'.

That is: If I get it...I get it.

In the mean time, I not going live a life of constant angst.

 

[wp4]

View attachment 665413

How long can those be used before the filter is considered saturated and must be changed?

I also wonder the same about the half mask respirator with the cartridge filters.

 

[tac]

How long can those be used before the filter is considered saturated and must be changed?

I also wonder the same about the half mask respirator with the cartridge filters.

The answer is 30 minutes.

 

[leadcounsel]

Masks work in 3 ways.

1. Ill person. Protects ill person from airborne spread of virus by breathing, coughing and sneezing it out, in both big visible droplets and small invisible aerosol particles.
2. Healthy person. Protects healthy person from inhaling infected materials in both big visible droplets and small invisible aerosol particles.
3. All people. Protects all people from touch transmission of virus from or to mouth/nose to or from other surfaces.

Any face covering will help to some degree. Of course, the better the rating and design, and proper application, the more effective it will be. But a simple cloth bandana WILL help at least stop you from transmitting touch virus to/from your face to/from objects.

For a mask to be fully effective for viral particals, full air tight eye goggles must be employed because virus is transmissible to the eyes. Swim goggles would be excellent. But even simple eye protection, again, will aid in preventing a person from transmitting tough virus to the eyes. So even shop eye glasses, or ski goggles, while not air tight, will aid in direct large droplet or hand-to-eye touch infection.

Yes, wash your hands often in warm soapy water.

Think of any mask and eye pro like body armor. It's not going to be a full defense but it's better than nothing and if deployed properly with the right ratings it's actually going to be pretty effective.

 

[rick benjamin]

Stomper and Tac
Combine these two and LIVE
Wash your hands, don't touch your face

 

[EHJ]

You know what Grandma would do...

 

[wp4]

The answer is 30 minutes.

Uh, I can see that in a situation where your in high concentrations of CS gas... but just breathing air that might have droplets suspended in it?

 

[EHJ]

How long can those be used before the filter is considered saturated and must be changed?

I also wonder the same about the half mask respirator with the cartridge filters.

That's not me - but I have these masks...
Longer than a bacterial or chemical agent. This virus dies pretty easily with simple solutions - so I'd feel ok with cleaning and drying them - if you had no options. Other than that - they use a common easily sourced replacement canister.

 

[leadcounsel]

Paper masks are meant to be disposable. They cannot be effectively washed or cleaned. But now with shortages and high prices, a limited supply can be theoretically extended with UV light.

While not perfect or ideal, they can be reused and one doctor I subscribe to suggested that the virus can live a maximum of 9 days on surfaces. So if you have say, 10 masks, in theory you can number them with a pencil and then rotate thru using one every day and putting the used mask in UV light to kill the virus.

For instance, you come home and you put the mask in a glass container and set it in sunlight for a week. By day 10, you should be able to re-use the first mask that now has 10 day old dead virus on it. Even better if you are only using them sporadically and they sit for weeks.

Not ideal, and not medical advice, but worthy of consideration.

 

[arakboss]

How long can those be used before the filter is considered saturated and must be changed?

I also wonder the same about the half mask respirator with the cartridge filters.

I use the cartridges on my half mask at work for weeks or even months. I rarely use it for more than several minutes at a time when mixing extra stinky paint. I store it in a plastic bag while not in use. It has caps with replaceable pads that fit on the exterior of the cartridges to catch particulates.

 

[Geardo]

As so often happens people are mixing a LOT of stuff up and often then no longer want to hear the truth. The N95s used in the hospital do not have that valve. Those are sold for people to use in industrial applications.
Now as for viruses. Yes the mask used by medical keep the person wearing it from spreading anything they are exhaling. It will also keep the person wearing the mask from inhaling virus spores. Now the rub here is when it comes to things like this its not just what you breath in. It's contact. People who are spreading it leave it on things they touch. When others touch it they now have it on their hands. So when they take that mask off, or touch their eyes, they now have it too. The mask will do almost zero by itself. To keep from being exposed you would need to run around in protective gear, NOT just a mask. Now most will either ignore this info or just refuse to hear it. They have been told to panic and no facts will get past them after that. <shrug>

Mask + gloves/ hand washing IS more effective.

 

[arakboss]

Mask + gloves/ hand washing IS more effective.

And eyewear.

 

[fmann]

I know of many healthcare workers in the field that have used the same n95 mask for years. Granted it's only put on when examining a patient (eg, for tuberculosis) and then removed and placed carefully into a plastic bag/container, but if you are careful you can stretch one mask for quite a while.

 

[leadcounsel]

I'm a "big picture" guy. Bigger picture, a legit concern.

Healthcare is now scrambling for masks. That has more than just the obvious mask shortage implications. The folks in charge of healthcare, with unlimited budgets, didn't think to stockpile inexpensive yet necessary items like masks?! 6 months ago they were plentiful, cheap (like a buck each) and in low demand, and a critical bottleneck component of healthcare. Now they are in a panic and depriving private citizens of masks, going to far as to be dishonest about the effectiveness so they can get masks.

First, lack of competence and total ineptitude to be so woefully unprepared for a contagion epidemic, when stocking warehouses of critically needed masks would have been easy and relatively cheap.

Second, we're to "TRUST" these morons with complex health care including not running out of other basic supplies? This epidemic has shown to put a large number of people in intensive quarantine care, which is in limited supply and expensive. And they're scrambling for $1 masks they failed to plan for? Not confidence inspiring.

Third is the distasteful dishonesty, telling the public they are of no use. That's putting more in the public at risk... it's really alarming.

 

[PiratePast40]

I'm a "big picture" guy. Bigger picture, a legit concern.

Third is the distasteful dishonesty, telling the public they are of no use. That's putting more in the public at risk... it's really alarming.

I think that goes more to the point of breaking it down to a fifth grade level. Masks alone are actually of little or no use. In reality, they are components of a contamination control system. You really are wasting resources if you are not knowledgeable of, or using effective techniques and procedures. Not to say that arrogance and poor planning are not part of the problem, but don't think it's as pervasive as some feel.

 

[gmerkt]

I use N95 masks around my place, mostly to filter dust out when I'm using equipment like a chipping machine. Picture cows in the Dustbowl of the Depression, their lungs filled with dirt. So even dirt can kill you.

But what I see people wearing these days aren't the N95 masks, what I see are the "ear loop" masks. Which are generic in shape, flat, don't contour or adjust to the nose like an N95. That's what they give out at Kaiser to patients coming in. I wonder at the efficacy of this design. Of course a lot has to do with how the patient puts it on.

The others I've seen look like something less disposable, made of more durable textile in a sort of cup shape. Washable it looks like.

Others have said it, I guess anything is better than nothing.