Simple rubber band fix improves surgical mask seal to N95 levels, study shows

All through the COVID-19 pandemic and when most safety is required in opposition to air-born infections, the N95 respirator has remained the gold normal of non-public protecting tools. Nevertheless, it’s also far more troublesome to supply and procure than an ordinary surgical masks.

However a latest examine revealed in PLOS ONE demonstrates {that a} easy modification to a surgical masks utilizing rubber bands can enhance its protecting seal in opposition to particle publicity to the extent of an N95 respirator.

To attain N95-level safety, the respirators ought to show a minimal rating of 100 on a standardized battery of checks—the Occupational Security and Well being Administration’s passing threshold—in opposition to the passage of particles that might doubtlessly expose a person to illness. Normal surgical masks aren’t as protecting as a result of they do not seal across the wearer’s face, permitting particles to bypass the filter peripherally.

A analysis workforce led by a Michigan Drugs surgeon labored with 40 well being care employees to check normal surgical masks modified with two 8-inch rubber bands over the crown of the topic’s head, bridge of the nostril, across the cheeks and below the chin throughout the boundaries of the masks.

Thirty-one of the themes, or 78%, had modified masks that handed a match take a look at with a rating of better than 100. The passing masks scored a mean of 151, a considerably higher match than an unmodified surgical masks rating of three.8 however decrease than a correctly fitted N95 masks’s rating of 199. By the final day of investigation, all the modified masks handed the N95 threshold, suggesting that better expertise with the banding improved match and efficiency.

This simple modification might deal with N95 respirator shortages worldwide and supply well being care employees and people in under-resourced areas—and even in a resourced space just like the U.S. when manufacturing calls for cannot correctly meet wants in a pandemic—a sensible means for elevated private safety, stated Jaimo Ahn, M.D., Ph.D., FACS, senior writer of the paper and professor of orthopaedic surgical procedure at College of Michigan Medical College.

“Whereas not a vaccine, this strategy emphasizes prevention relatively than remedy,” Ahn stated. “Whereas not refined, it has the potential to avoid wasting lives and protect wellness. Its impact will final so long as there are respiratory ailments and PPE demand exceeds provide. It’s instantly impactful and sustainable, but easy and low-cost.”