I bought a half-mask and several filters almost two months ago, and it’s definitely easier and safer for my once-per-week shopping trip than a single use mask. I don’t think that it’s a particularly effective general solution though, for the following reasons:
1. All of these are sold out. To make more, you need to manufacture both masks and filters.
2. All the replaceable filters are sold out. The filters need to be sequentially rotated or otherwise disinfected.
3. Wearing one for anything more than 30 minutes is still quite awful.
4. Most of them have exhaust valves which still spread the virus to others.
1. This was the point of my original post. States should begin stimulating large scale production of masks and filters to provide most people with such masks.
2. No they don’t. Virus particles on the filter stay there as long as the filter does not get wet and decay quite quickly
3. Your mask either does not fit right or is low quality or has some kind of gas combination filter with very high flow resistance.
Regarding point 2, how sure are you? Why are we even trying to disinfect N95 masks if that’s true? I think your point is plausible but the filter technology in these masks isn’t entirely trivial. Most filter materials actually depend on a static electric charge in the polypropylene to filter properly. Does the charge actually release the active virus particles after some time, and then you breathe them in? I have no idea. I was already surprised to find out that masks simply aren’t just a dense material that filters particles, but a bit more complicated.
Pretty sure. You should not get your filter wet though since this may allow diffusion across the filter, which is why it is unsafe to wear (N 95 or other) fleece masks for extended periods. Also stuff that is bound in the filter is also attracted via Van-der-Waals forces which are really strong on this scale.
I bought 3M respirators and filters several months ago. I did not use it since I worked from home and did not go shopping. Those devices are more cheaper than N95 mask.
I have experience with wearing 3M masks and I found them comfortable enough for 2 hours at a time, 8 hours per day. My experience is entirely with activated carbon filters, and the inherently higher resistance of the P100 or even P95 particulate with oil filters might impact comfort significantly.
Not much more expensive; less than 2x the price that ordinary users would have paid before. Grainger still lists them for regular price, and doesn’t claim that every p100 filter is sold out yet, just the less-expensive ones. If it’s worth the extra cost to pay for a Olive/Black/Magenta filter when you just want a Magenta one… https://www.grainger.com/category/safety/respiratory-protection/cartridges-and-filters
I bought a half-mask and several filters almost two months ago, and it’s definitely easier and safer for my once-per-week shopping trip than a single use mask. I don’t think that it’s a particularly effective general solution though, for the following reasons:
1. All of these are sold out. To make more, you need to manufacture both masks and filters.
2. All the replaceable filters are sold out. The filters need to be sequentially rotated or otherwise disinfected.
3. Wearing one for anything more than 30 minutes is still quite awful.
4. Most of them have exhaust valves which still spread the virus to others.
1. This was the point of my original post. States should begin stimulating large scale production of masks and filters to provide most people with such masks.
2. No they don’t. Virus particles on the filter stay there as long as the filter does not get wet and decay quite quickly
3. Your mask either does not fit right or is low quality or has some kind of gas combination filter with very high flow resistance.
4. Yes, see discussion above.
Regarding point 2, how sure are you? Why are we even trying to disinfect N95 masks if that’s true? I think your point is plausible but the filter technology in these masks isn’t entirely trivial. Most filter materials actually depend on a static electric charge in the polypropylene to filter properly. Does the charge actually release the active virus particles after some time, and then you breathe them in? I have no idea. I was already surprised to find out that masks simply aren’t just a dense material that filters particles, but a bit more complicated.
Pretty sure. You should not get your filter wet though since this may allow diffusion across the filter, which is why it is unsafe to wear (N 95 or other) fleece masks for extended periods. Also stuff that is bound in the filter is also attracted via Van-der-Waals forces which are really strong on this scale.
I bought 3M respirators and filters several months ago. I did not use it since I worked from home and did not go shopping. Those devices are more cheaper than N95 mask.
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/All-3M-Products/Safety/Personal-Safety/Personal-Protective-Equipment/Reusable-Respirators/?N=5002385+8709322+8711017+8711405+8720539+8720550+3294857497&rt=r3
You have experience wearing a mask like above and are telling us it’s awful to wear more than 30 minutes?
I have experience with wearing 3M masks and I found them comfortable enough for 2 hours at a time, 8 hours per day. My experience is entirely with activated carbon filters, and the inherently higher resistance of the P100 or even P95 particulate with oil filters might impact comfort significantly.
I don’t have experience with US P99/100 filters but modern European P3 filters which are between P99 and P100 have hardly noticeable resistance.
In amzon, the 2097 filtering is more expensive than before. But still available.
https://www.amazon.com/3m-2097/s?k=3m+2097
Not much more expensive; less than 2x the price that ordinary users would have paid before. Grainger still lists them for regular price, and doesn’t claim that every p100 filter is sold out yet, just the less-expensive ones. If it’s worth the extra cost to pay for a Olive/Black/Magenta filter when you just want a Magenta one… https://www.grainger.com/category/safety/respiratory-protection/cartridges-and-filters