Masks / Respirators
Mask Guidance
Don’t Share Air!
Mask Fit Matters
Why Wear a Mask?
Covid-19 is airborne, highly contagious, and can cause serious long-term health effects for anyone who is infected. Transmitted through aerosols, the virus can linger in the air and spread further than six feet, like smoke. Even vaccinated people can be contagious and breathe out the virus before they have symptoms. Breathing in the virus is how it infects you. Masks and respirators help to prevent you from becoming infected.
Covid-19 is airborne and highly contagious. You become infected mainly by inhaling aerosols which are exhaled by an infected person (“source”), even if they are vaccinated and feel well.
The virus in these aerosols is more concentrated in the air around the source, but they float and spread like smoke and linger in the air for hours, even if the source has left the room. While social distancing helps, when you’re indoors or in outdoor crowds, ultimately, everyone is breathing in some of each other’s air.
The probability of encountering a contagious person is high, and it’s not always apparent.
Mask Evidence
Curating published, peer-reviewed literature on mask design, mask use and mask effectiveness.
Mask research is more than identifying the best material for masks — it also requires understanding how masks fit, the level of risk in the environment, what activities are being performed while wearing masks and availability of masks, materials and supplies.
Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic, one of the few constants has been change. Early days left even healthcare professionals and hospitals short of certified medical masks and N-95’s. While mask supplies have greatly improved, North America still experiences supply interruptions for the public. Around the globe, even more people face challenges in accessing masks. Our contributions to research help the public make sense of peer reviewed literature in today’s world and document lessons learned for the future.
About Masks
“Our Best Advice” is based on peer reviewed, scientific literature bringing everything together one place. Information on understanding mask materials, choosing a mask, mask features such as nose wires and filters, mask safety and making a mask translates science to practical help.
Masks and respirators for prevention of respiratory infections: a state of the science review
Rationale and aim
AMA podcast: "Six things doctors wish patients knew about wearing masks."
Special Communication | Infectious Diseases
Authors: Shama Cash-Goldwasser, MD, MPH; Arthur L. Reingold, MD; Stephen P. Luby, MD; Lisa A. Jackson, MD, MPH; Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH
Masks During Pandemics Caused by Respiratory Pathogens— Evidence and Implications for Action
Key Points
Question: During the COVID-19 pandemic, what has been learned about whether face mask use is associated with lower transmission of SARS-CoV-2in community settings, and how has it been learned?
Findings: Literature review revealed many high-quality observational studies demonstrating the association of facemask use in the community and of mask mandates with reduced spread of SARS-CoV-2. Randomized clinical trials conducted during the pandemic provide limited information.
Meaning: Robust available data support the use of face masks in community settings to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and should inform future responses to epidemics and pandemics caused by respiratory viruses.
N95 Fit Testing Training Video
The Difference Between Respirators and Surgical Masks
Masks Work
A collection of articles and videos about masking and exploring the disinformation and myths that surround them. This website was created by the Covid Safe Network to connect people to businesses and schools that value their health and safety.
Masks Work. Distorting Science to Dispute the Evidence Doesn’t
Masks work. Especially respirator-style N95 masks.
Amid an ongoing pandemic and outbreaks of influenza and RSV caused by airborne viruses, arguing over the virus-blocking power of masks remains one of the COVID era’s signature follies.
Effectiveness of N95 Mask in Preventing COVID-19 Transmission
Specifically, to this date, N-95 masks are considered to be the most efficient PPE, especially for individuals exposed to high risk, e.g., frontline health workers: an N95 mask has the capability of filtering more than 95% of the infectious elements
Request a Mask Donation from Project N95
If you’re unable to afford high-quality respiratory protection, Project N95 may be able to help. Part of our nonprofit mission is to provide equitable access to respiratory protection. We provide high-filtration masks to individuals in need every month to the extent allowed by our inventory. These donations come from our own supply and are funded by the generosity of our donors and purchases in the Project N95 shop.
Here’s how much coronavirus people infected with COVID-19 may exhale
Just breathing naturally, people can emit dozens of copies of viral RNA every minute.
The virus that causes COVID-19 spreads through the air. But just how much virus people breathe out over the course of infection isn’t well-defined.
To pin the numbers down, olfactory researcher Gregory Lane and colleagues analyzed over 300 breath samples from 43 people with COVID-19, following them for nearly three weeks. Levels varied between and within individuals, but some people shed a lot, releasing over 800 copies of viral RNA per minute at times.
Donate a Mask Project Canada
Donate A Mask is a volunteer-run project that ships free N95 equivalent respirator masks to anyone in Canada who requests them. An initiative of registered charity Evidence-Based Social Enterprises Canada, our aim is to support those who are vulnerable and those who are unable to afford or access high-quality masks.
Shared Air
If you could see it, would you breathe it?
Kids Mask For 12 & Under - A Primer for Parents in Under 20 Minutes
Aaron Collins (aka Mask Nerd) put together this excellent video on how and where to find quality masks for kids. Although the video was made in 2021, much of it should still be relevant. Be sure to check the parts about fit-testing masks. Be sure to checkout Aaron’s spreadsheet of test results for kids masks.
Fit Testing at Home Method
Some low-cost options to test your mask/respirator for a good fit. (This is different from the user seal check that you should do every time you put it on to ensure a good seal is formed with no gaps or leaks)
This site also contains a extensive collection of tips and tools for an airborne pandemic.
Respirator User Guide: N95 3M Aura 9205 - Donning
This video demonstrates the correct sequence for donning a 3M Aura 9205 N95 respirator. Knowing the correct order for Donning (putting on) your N95 Disposable Filtering Facepiece Respirator is vital in the fight to stop the spread of infectious diseases transmitted via the airborne route.
3M Respirator Testing: FAQ's
In the U.S., fit testing is a required component of any Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) written respiratory protection program in which workers are required to wear tight-fitting respirators. Qualitative fit testing is an acceptable method in many cases.
This document contains answers to many of the fit-testing questions we receive the most often.
Choosing the Right Mask
Credit: Nicolas Smit
@PPEtoheros
What Went Wrong with a Highly Publicized COVID Mask Analysis?
The COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing, but in May officials (in the US) ended its designation as a public health emergency. So it’s now fair to ask if all our efforts to slow the spread of the disease—from masking to hand washing to working from home—were worth it. One group of scientists has seriously muddied the waters with a report that gave the false impression that masking didn’t help.
