Researchers from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom discovered that 90 percent of particles could get through cloth masks, making them worthless throughout the pandemic. Cloth masks have been popular in the U.S., as they are easily reusable after washing and, at some points, were the most accessible due to shortages and increased prices for surgical or N95 masks.
Now, professionals have found that these masks were doing little if anything to actually prevent the spread of the virus and probably even contributed to spreading as people who thought they were acting safely were not actually doing so.
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Researchers, who published their conclusions Tuesday in Physics of Fluids, built an airflow simulation using 3d imaging to measure how well different masks were used throughout the pandemic filtered particles. They note that unlike N95 or surgical masks, cloth masks are not built using material made to filter out particles.
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Cloth masks are made out of tightly-woven fabrics. While not visible to the eye, small gaps in the material are sufficient to allow for a vast majority of particles to get through. “Masks are air filters, and woven fabrics, such as cotton, make for good jeans, shirts, and other apparel, but they are lousy air filters,” Richard Sear, co-author of the study and physicist at Surrey University, announced in a statement. KN95 masks are made to filter out particles and have a standard filtration of 95 percent.
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“The filtering layer of an N95 mask is made from much smaller, 5-micrometer fibers with gaps that are 10 times smaller, making it much better for filtering nasty particles from the air, such as those containing virus,” Sear stated. KF-94 masks are considered to be extremely effective as well, with the power to filter out 94 percent of particles.
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Filtration efficiency is not the just two benefits of those masks, though. Fit is critical as well. A mask should fit tightly around a person’s face, almost hugging their nose, cheeks, and chin. This is to avoid leaving gaps above or below the mouth and the nose where air can escape.
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Even if a person has a mask that can filter up to 95 percent of particles, if the mask isn’t well-fitting, the particles could escape out of the side. This is why Sear does not recommend the use of surgical masks. “Surgical masks fit badly, so a lot of air goes unfiltered past the edges of the mask by the cheeks and nose,” he explained.
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