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n95 face mask

Different Types of Masks: Effectiveness & When to Use

These days, face masks have become a requisite due to the increasing respiratory problems, a breakout of various diseases and more. Hence, it becomes important that you use specific masks to keep such problems at bay. Starting from seasonal flu, to dust particles, various bacteria to air pollution, the face masks act as one of the best gear to fight such problems. 

You can find different types of masks in the market, but it is vital to understand which face mask works best for what problem. In this blog, you will be getting an insight into different types of masks that are suitable for different jobs.

1. Surgical Masks: These are also known as face masks/ medical masks/ procedure masks. These are mainly designed for health care professionals while they are involved with surgery and nursing.

These masks can prevent professionals from the contamination on surgical fields or by the patients by preventing the liquid droplets from entering the body. These masks help in blocking large-particles, droplets, splashes, sprays, or splatter that may contain germs. You can also use these masks to reduce the exposure of your saliva and respiratory secretions to others. 

Depending on the thickness and ability of protection, surgical masks are of two major types: 


3 Ply Surgical Masks:

These are made of three layers, an outer hydrophobic non-woven layer, a middle melt-blown layer, and an inner soft absorbent non-woven layer. The melt-down material stops microbes from entering or exiting the mask. You can easily secure it to the head with ear loops, head ties, or elastic strap, and pleats allow the user to expand the mask from nose to chin as per the requirements. 

5 Ply Surgical Masks:

These are more powerful surgical masks with activated carbon filters. These masks consist of five filter layers that are ideal to protect your mouth and face from dust, haze, bacteria, virus, germs, allergies, smoke, pollution, ash, etc. These are easy to wear and stop pollutants from entering the respiratory tract.

2. Dust Masks:

These masks mainly protect the wearer against non-toxic nuisance dust during activities like mowing, gardening, sweeping, and dusting. More specifically, these help to prevent the development of respiratory illnesses.
These are very effective to wear in an environment where the risk of inhaling dangerous substances is very high and you feel coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, or other breathing difficulties. 

3. Respirators:

These masks are very helpful to remove contaminants from the air using cartridges, filters, or canisters. There are different types of respirators available that are capable of protecting you from various hazards such as dust, paint & odor, sanding & fiberglass, gas & vapors, and more. 

NIOSH has provided these respirators some ratings according to their jobs:

R Ratings: Oil-Resistant 

R95 – Filters a minimum of 95% of airborne particles

N Ratings: Not Oil-Resistant

N95 – Filters a minimum of 95% of airborne particles

N99 – Filters a minimum of  99% of airborne particles

N100 – Filters a minimum of  99.7% of airborne particles

P Ratings: Oil-Proof

P95 – Filters a minimum of  95% of airborne particles

P99 – Filters a minimum of  99% of airborne particles

P100 – Filters a minimum of  99.7% of airborne particles

Among all of these respirators, N95 respirators are the most commonly used.

N95 Respirators:

If you are involved in painting jobs or dealing with dangerous chemicals, bacteria or doing tasks like sanding and woodworking, these N-95 respirators are the best choice to wear. These respirators help to remove contaminants from the air using cartridges, filters, or canisters.

As the name suggests, these masks are capable of blocking at least 95 percent of very small approx 0.3 microns test particles.

The main features of N-95 respirators are:

  • Offers the best filtration and a very good fit
  • Are one of the most effective masks
  • Can filter 95% of particles
  • Have an excellent fit and create a seal around the face

These are some types of masks that are very useful and essential to safeguard yourself from respiratory problems. If you are searching for such masks, you can visit moglix.com and can enjoy the best range of these masks.

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