With the continuous spread of the epidemic in Canada, masks have become the most sought-after “anti-epidemic materials”. When buying masks in various groups of Solitaires, the information of masks is flying everywhere, I believe everyone has the same confusion: Can the masks I got really prevent the new crown virus?

This article does not want to describe the technical details and industry standards of the mask too much, and strives to use the most concise way to quickly get you the skills of “judging whether the mask can meet the basic epidemic prevention requirements”.

When buying selection: look at the mask production standards

It is believed that the masks you have recently received are Made in China domestic products shipped from the mainland of the motherland through various channels. It can be roughly judged whether the mask can prevent the new coronavirus according to which standard of the Chinese mask is produced.

The following figure provides several standards that can prevent new coronary pneumonia for your reference:

Mask production standardsCan New Coronavirus be preventedScenesExplanation

GB/T 32610-2016

Daily protective masks

Partly usable
Class A and B can
Class C and D cannot
Anti-fog / partial anti-virusIt is mainly used to prevent smog and is suitable for the protective masks worn by ordinary people to filter out particulates in the air pollution environment of daily life.
YY/T0969-2013

Disposable medical mask

UsableGeneral virus protectionIt is generally used in ordinary medical environments, mainly to block the pollutants exhaled or sprayed from the mouth and nasal cavity, and requires a bacterial filtration efficiency (BFE) of 95% or more. In short, it is mainly used to block the air Contains bacteria suspended particles.
YY 0469-2011

Technical requirements for medical surgical masks

UsableMedical surgery environmentThe mask is mainly used in the surgical environment. In order to protect the safety of medical personnel, hemodialysis is the most emphasized (that is, if a certain pressure of blood is sprayed on the outside of the mask, no penetration will occur in the internal measurement of the mask)
GB19083-2010

Technical requirements for medical protective masks

UsableFirst-line medical staff useMedical N95 masks have good face tightness, ensuring that the wearer’s nose and mouth are completely tightly protected, and rely on the mask’s own material to filter the air, which can effectively protect the wearer placed in the environment of respiratory infectious diseases. A self-priming filter type medical protective article.
GB2626-2006

Self-suction filtering anti-particulate ventilator

UsableGeneral virus protectionAmong them, the KN95 level can effectively prevent respiratory tract infections. Wearing without a breathing valve will hold your breath, and the autoviral department with a breathing valve will only reveal itself, but you can only protect yourself, not the people around you

We can see from the table above

  1. GB/T 32610-2016In the “Daily Protective Masks” standard, only Grade A and Grade B can effectively protect against the new crown virus. If the mask you buy only indicates GB / T 32610-2016, does not write ABCD, and there are no other standards at the same time, then there is no guarantee. Virus-resistant。
  2. If you are only routinely defending against New Coronavirus, especially in cities with relatively low population density in Canada, disposable medical masks produced in accordance with YY / T0969-2013 standards and medical surgical masks produced in accordance with YY 0469-2011 standards are sufficient to meet the protection needs. There is no need to force the price to be several times more expensive to wear a medical N95 or KN95 mask that has a significant suffocation.
  3. If you need to be in close contact with the suspected or confirmed patient of the new crown, please wear the medical N95 mask of YY 0469-2011 “Technical Requirements for Medical Surgical Masks” to ensure maximum protection.

After getting the mask: actual test

(1)Test 1: Water permeability

The outermost layer of the mask is waterproof, which can effectively block the invasion of droplet virus. You can pour a small glass of water from the outside, the water should not penetrate the inner layer.

(2)Test two: bacterial resistance

The main function of the middle layer of the three-layer mask is to block bacterial invasion. The layer should be melt-blown cloth, which is the core material of the mask. The melt-blown cloth of the middle layer accounts for a large part of the mask production cost. Fake masks will eliminate the middle layer, or use ordinary cloth materials instead. The simple method of judgment is to cut the hood and try to light the middle layer with a lighter. The normal melt-blown cloth should be exposed to fire and will not burn by itself.If the middle layer is ignited to produce flames, it is not a melt-blown cloth material, and the quality of the mask is defective。

Please watch our personal test video:

Brief summary:

  1. For daily protection of new coronary pneumonia, buy disposable medical masks or medical surgical masks to meet your needs
  2. Look at the standard before buying, and do the test, you can basically determine whether the mask can resist virus invasion.
  3. If you also want to do the burn test of the middle layer of the mask yourself, please pay attention to fire prevention, don’t light the house!

May the epidemic pass as soon as possible, and wish you all the best!