Monday 6 October 2014

What face masks to wear to protect against Ebola

PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) MASKS

The following list of items may be useful in mitigating the risks associated with infections and transmission generally not just for the current Ebola concern (equally functional for smog, pollution and other airborne particulates - note these are PARTICULATE filters and not suitable for VAPORS or GASES). Although every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, the reader is encouraged to perform their own due-diligence.
IMPORTANT: PPE effectiveness is solely dependent on HOW WELL THEY FIT. 
It's highly recommended all Personal Protection Equipment be fit-tested with family members, friends or colleagues before full deployment or use to ensure they fit the user safely and securely across a wide range of shapes and sizes for both head and body as needed (facial hair or other impediments to proper fit severely reduce the effectiveness of filtering face piece PPE's). For more information on UK Health & Safety Executive fit-testing techniques click here to read "Fit testing of Respiratory Protective Equipment Face pieces" (PDF).

Face Masks

If you are in the United Kingdom, the following are suggested (items marked [#] are designed for health care environments/usages);

3M 8233 N100 Valved Respirator [info]
    • 3M 8511 N-95 Valved Respirator [info]
    • 3M 1870 N-95 Non-valved Respirator [#] [info]
    • 3M 1860 N-95 Non-valved Respirator [#] [info]
• Moldex 2505 FFP3 (P3) Valved Respirator [info]
  • Moldex 3100 FFP2 (P2) Non-valved Respirator [#] [info]
• Silverline 633895 FFP3 (P3) Valved Respirator [info]
  • Silverline 282590 FFP2 (P2) Valved Respirator [info]
• 3M Aura 1863 FFP3 (P3) Non-valved Respirator [#] [info]
• 3M Aura 9332 FFP3 (P3) Valved Respirator [info]
  • 3M Aura 9322+ FFP2 (P2) Valved Respirator [info]

If you are in the United States, the following are suggested (items marked [#] are designed for health care environments/usages);

• 3M 8233 N100 Valved Respirator [info]
    • 3M 1870 N95 Non-valved Respirator [#] [info]
    • 3M 1860 N95 Non-valve Respirator [#] [info]
    • 3M 1805 N95 Non-valved Respirator [#] [info]
• 3M 8293 P100 Valved Respirator [info]
• Moldex 2730 N100 Valved Respirator [info]
  • Moldex 2310 N99 Valved Respirator [info]
  • Moldex 2315 N99 Valved Respirator [info]
• Moldex 2360 P100 Valved Respirator [info]
If you are in the USA*, NIOSH-Certified PPE[1], "N-95" filtering face pieces should be a minimum requirement.
If you are in the EU*, CE-Certified PPE[2], "FFP2" filtering face pieces should be a minimum requirement.
If you are in the UK*, BS EN-Certified PPE[3], "FFP2" ("P2") filtering face piece should be a minimum requirement.

In all cases Surgical Face Masks (look like paper-towels with string behind the ears) are NOT classed as RPE (Respiratory Protective Equipment) and DO NOT PROTECT against air-borne particulates. They should be avoided unless absolutely no other options are available.

[1] NOISH : NIOSH-Approved Particulate Filtering Face piece Respirators
[2] European Commission : Directive 89/686/EEC on personal protective equipment
[3] BSI : Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) product certification

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