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Everything You Need to Know About N95 Masks

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a mad rush for N95 masks. Apart from gloves, personal protective equipment (PPE), and disinfectant sprays, healthcare workers also require N95 masks. What’s so special about these masks, why are they sought after, and how can they be used safely? Here’s a look at all this and more.

What is the N95 mask?

The N95 mask – also known as the N95 respirator, is a mask designed to protect healthcare workers, including doctors and nurses, on the frontline of the COVID-19 battle. It is categorized as a type of PPE and today has become well-known the world over. The respirator is known to block out 95% of minute particles (0.3 microns), and viruses fall in the range of 0.3 microns.

This high-tech product filters much more than basic masks and offers more protection than normal cloth or surgical masks. The design and manufacture of the N95 masks are approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

The N95 masks are produced by 3M, which makes approximately 35 million N95 masks every month in the United States. In the wake of the pandemic, 3M has ramped up production to around 50 million masks a month.

Honeywell is another company that manufactures 3M masks and is all set to ramp up production to 10 to 20 million N95 masks in the United States every month.Isolator Plus N95 Mask

Who needs N95 masks?

Everyone can benefit from owning and wearing an N95 mask. When worn properly, the mask can protect the wearer from being infected by others and also protects people from being infected by the wearer. But today, healthcare workers need the mask more than anyone else because they are in the frontline and face the greatest risks. Recently, New York state – the epicenter of the American COVID-19 pandemic, recommended that all healthcare workers reuse their N95 masks to stretch their supplies.

The dean of the Case Western Reserve University School of Law and professor of bioethics and public health, Jessica Berg, says that if the mask is to stop the wearer from spreading the virus, then the right person to wear an N95 is anyone who comes in contact with others – like the healthy millennials who are walking around more.

Another problem is to be able to obtain an N95 mask. The shortage of masks has given rise to an ethical issue today, with most believing that healthcare workers and first responders must be given priority when deciding who needs these masks.

The CDC recommends that Americans wear the mask when they are out in public places and areas where it is impossible to maintain social distancing (such as grocery stores). The CDC is also encouraging the general public to sew their own cloth masks filled with coffee filters as that could protect people from occasional coughs and sneezes.

Guidelines for healthcare workers working in high-risk situations and other individuals who use the N95 respirator

While it is known that the N95 respirator is the most efficient masks to protect oneself against COVID-19, the following must be noted:

  • N95 masks do not provide complete protection against infection.
  • All healthcare workers and individuals who wear N95 masks must understand that while the N95 masks are beneficial, these masks have limitations. They must also understand how to use these masks most effectively.
  • Individuals must not become lax about other infection control issues.

How to use the N95 mask effectively

To put on the mask:

  1. Sanitize your hands before putting on the mask.
  2. Choose the right size mask and make sure there are no defects.
  3. Hold the mask in the palm of your hand, with the nosepiece at the fingertips. Let the head straps hand freely on either side of your hand.
  4. Position it just below your chin with the nosepiece up.
  5. While holding the mask in place over your face, pull the top strap over your head and let it rest high on the back of your head.
  6. Pull the bottom strap over your head and place it around your neck – just below your ears. Position the strap beneath your hair if you have long hair. Untwist the straps and position the mask low on your nose.
  7. Place the index and middle fingers of both hands against the top of the nose piece. Mold the nosepiece to fit around the shape of your nose. Do this by pushing both sides downward and outward with your fingertips.
  8. Perform a fit check. Place both your hands completely over the mask without disturbing its position. Exhale sharply. If air escapes around the sides of the nose, adjust the nosepiece. If air escapes from the mask’s edges, then adjust the straps back along the sides of your head. The fit check must be performed every time you wear the mask.
  9. Perform hand hygiene after putting on the mask.

To remove the mask:

  1. Pull the bottom strap over your head.
  2. Maintain the hold on the first strap and then pull the top strap over the head with your free hand.
  3. Do not touch the front surface of the mask. Place it in a new and clean Ziploc bag for reuse. Discard at the end of the day.
  4. Perform hand hygiene after removing the mask.

How to sanitize N95 masks for reuse

Given their scarcity, it would be a good idea to reuse N95 masks. Four sanitization methods were tested at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Hamilton, Montana.

  1. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation
  2. Dry heat
  3. Ethanol Spray
  4. Vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP)

While all four methods eliminated detectable SARS-CoV-2 virus from the test samples, the time required for contamination varied. VHP was the quickest (required 10 minutes), followed by dry heat and UV light (required approximately 60 minutes). Ethanol required an intermediate amount of time.

Tested for durability over three uses, it turns out the masks decontaminated with VHP and UV could be used up to three times. Masks that were contaminated with dry heat could be used up to two times. Ethanol-decontaminated masks were useless.

Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) is another method tested that has shown satisfactory decontamination efficacy; however, this method is less effective on the respirator straps, and it reduced the breaking strength of the straps by approximately 50%. This suggests that UVGI can be used effectively to disinfectant disposable respirators so that they can be reused, but the maximum number of these disinfection cycles is limited by the respirator model and the dose of UVGI required to kill or inactivate the pathogen.

Lumin CPAP UV Sanitizer

The Lumin CPAP UV Sanitizer is known to be one of the fastest and easiest ways to clean and disinfect CPAP masks. The device makes use of UVC light technology to clean products thoroughly and quickly and could be an excellent solution for those who use N95 masks for personal use.

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