The difference between medical masks and ordinary masks

The characteristics of medical masks are light, comfortable, odorless, without glass fiber, non-irritating to the skin, waterproof, and after disinfection, it can kill or remove pathogenic microorganisms on the transmission medium to make it harmless; and it can Dustproof, because of low breathing resistance, wearing hygienic, aerosol, dust, smoke, mist, poisonous gas and poisonous vapor, etc. are adsorbed by the filter material, blocked from being inhaled by people, and effectively isolate the source of pollution.

The ordinary mask is a fiber mask, and its blocking principle is a mechanical blocking effect. Through this layer of mechanical blocking, large particles can be blocked, but particles with a diameter of less than 5 microns cannot be blocked, let alone PM2.5 particles, but medical masks and medical disposable masks can block particles larger than 4 microns in diameter, so ordinary masks need to wear 16 layers to play the role of medical masks.

In addition to the high hygienic requirements, medical protective masks should also have the function of effectively blocking liquid splashes. Due to the possibility of splattering of blood or infectious body fluids during surgery, this kind of splatter has some pressure and is not a general liquid infiltration. The ability of medical mask materials to block pressured liquids should be relatively high. Effectively protect medical personnel.

Therefore, in the standard of medical protective masks, a special detection method is used to test the liquid barrier performance of such products, and the 3M dust masks used in general industrial environments do not need to have such special requirements. There is naturally no such requirement.

In addition, medical protective masks are not allowed to have an exhalation valve. This is because when the medical protective mask is allowed to be used as a surgical mask, if a mask with an exhalation valve is worn, the microorganisms carried in the exhalation will be directly discharged out of the mask, posing a threat to the patient undergoing surgery. Many industrial protective masks have an exhalation valve design, but dust masks with exhalation valves are much more expensive than those without valves.

Medical masks are generally divided into three categories: cotton yarn masks, medical surgical masks, and N95 masks. Their characteristics are:

Cotton yarn mask: It can prevent some viruses from invading, but it has poor adhesion to human face and low anti-virus efficiency.

Medical surgical mask: divided into three layers, the outer layer blocks water, the middle layer blocks air from 5μm particles greater than 90%, and the inner layer absorbs moisture.

N95 medical protective mask: N95 is certified by the American Occupational Safety and Health Institute. N refers to non-oily particulate matter, 95 refers to the filtration rate of 95% under the standard test conditions, and has good adhesion.