08-11-2020, 11:45 PM
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/revi...343474001/
To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, many runners and athletes have chosen to wear neck gaiters as face coverings while exercising, as they can be easier to breathe in. However, a recent Duke University study found that neck fleeces offer little protection compared to other materials.
The results showed that, as expected, N95 masks were the most effective at filtering droplets, and three-layer surgical and cotton masks are also effective. But neck fleeces offered little protection. In fact, they actually produced a higher number of respiratory droplets compared to wearing no face mask at all because the material broke down larger droplets into smaller particles. Knitted masks and bandanas were also shown to be less effective.
According to this article cotton masks are better at filtering droplets than other materials excluding Surgical Masks and N95. However, having looked more into it, the protection they are talking about really isn't your own personal protection. The protection they are actually talking about is how effective they are at stopping your own droplets from getting into the air. On top of that the article is honestly written just to sell you products. The study itself actually states what they studied is how well your mask filtered your own droplets to protect other people not how well it protects you.
So in a sense this article is written to make you think the material you are using doesn't protect you, but in reality its just not as effective at protecting other people. However it still filters better than nothing at all and some materials may even break it up into smaller droplets. Why they are trying to sell you cotton makes less sense to me as polypropylene mask's do a better job at filtering than cotton. Bottom line is having a filter is better than not having one at all no matter what material. Here is the relative graph (3A) from the study itself; so decide for yourself which material you wish to use.
To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, many runners and athletes have chosen to wear neck gaiters as face coverings while exercising, as they can be easier to breathe in. However, a recent Duke University study found that neck fleeces offer little protection compared to other materials.
The results showed that, as expected, N95 masks were the most effective at filtering droplets, and three-layer surgical and cotton masks are also effective. But neck fleeces offered little protection. In fact, they actually produced a higher number of respiratory droplets compared to wearing no face mask at all because the material broke down larger droplets into smaller particles. Knitted masks and bandanas were also shown to be less effective.
According to this article cotton masks are better at filtering droplets than other materials excluding Surgical Masks and N95. However, having looked more into it, the protection they are talking about really isn't your own personal protection. The protection they are actually talking about is how effective they are at stopping your own droplets from getting into the air. On top of that the article is honestly written just to sell you products. The study itself actually states what they studied is how well your mask filtered your own droplets to protect other people not how well it protects you.
So in a sense this article is written to make you think the material you are using doesn't protect you, but in reality its just not as effective at protecting other people. However it still filters better than nothing at all and some materials may even break it up into smaller droplets. Why they are trying to sell you cotton makes less sense to me as polypropylene mask's do a better job at filtering than cotton. Bottom line is having a filter is better than not having one at all no matter what material. Here is the relative graph (3A) from the study itself; so decide for yourself which material you wish to use.
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