Which mask is better: cloth masks versus N95? The answer is the one that fits.

My favorite face mask is a smooth black cloth number – it all goes together, it does not damage my face and is sold in a relatively affordable three-pack, so I always have a backup. I have put together a whole collection of cloth masks, as you probably do too, at random, in bright colors and patterns, usually made by a variety of people in my life.

Since our face covers project our taste while protecting us, there is another element of style that is often forgotten: fit. And fitness is incredibly important when it comes to how effective our masks are.

Numerous celebrities were seen wearing their masks under their noses. In particular, members of Congress who promote masking have been seen wearing their sliding masks in public.

Cloth masks sometimes lend themselves to poor etiquette: Representative David Cicilline (D-RI) slips his off to sneeze at C-SPAN in his hand, that is, to make it clear, appalling. Home speaker Nancy Pelosi has revealed that she has masks that match her outfits, but was once photographed in a conversation with George Floyd’s brother, with a mask under her mouth. And shortly after his inauguration, President Joe Biden’s mask afgegly his face amid the signing of an executive action regarding Covid-19. It happens to the best of us. Walk around everywhere in the pandemic in America, and you will surely encounter people fiddling with their masks.

Doug Mills / The New York Times / Bloomberg via Getty Images

But to really protect yourself, cloth masks need to fit well. And wearing a well-fitting mask may be more important than it ever was in the pandemic. As previously reported by Julia Belluz for Vox, a more contagious new variant of Covid-19, known as B.1.1.7, now spreading around the world, we need to be even more careful about our risk of being exposed to the virus, especially in indoor spaces.

Mask fit really matters

Proper mask wear is still an important factor in preventing the transmission of the coronavirus. A mask slip can make the wearer extremely vulnerable, as the nasal passage is a common entrance for the virus to enter the body. According to a study in Physical Medicine, binds the virus to certain proteins found in the nasal passage. There are actually more of these proteins in the nose than in the lungs, which makes an exposed nose a serious threat. You do not want viral particles to get out of your nose, so it is essential that your mask fits well.

Cloth masks are still good for the general public to use, experts tell me. So do not feel that you have to run out and buy a mask like an N95 for medical purposes. We think about what our masks look like every day, but we largely ignore the importance of the right fit. Not enough emphasis is placed on what makes a mask well-fitted and effective – we are distracted from design, while we really need to worry about how comfortable our masks are and whether they are safe enough to rely on.

The Task Force for Respiratory Protection Engineering, a research group based at the University of Cambridge, is investigating the effectiveness and improvement of civilian face masks and cloths. ‘What we have found through our research is that the actual filter material is not as important as is appropriate. To take advantage of high filter material, you need to be fit, ‘said Eugenia O’Kelly, a PhD student leading the group. O’Kelly stressed that there is no way to be 100 percent sure that your mask will fit without highly specialized machinery, but there are tips for better fit and protection.

According to her team’s tests, double masking can be helpful. ‘Keep in mind that you do not end up doubling your protection by covering masks. I’ve seen a lot of this type of ‘math’ online, but unfortunately that’s not how deep filtering works, ‘she said. But if you double, you can get a better seal around the nose and mouth than one mask alone which may be too loose.

O’Kelly says there are two methods scientists use to find out if a mask fits. ‘You can have quantitative and qualitative adjustments. “Quantitatively, you measure the amount of particles inside and outside the mask,” she said. Most surgical masks do not fit snugly enough, or are of material without adequate filtration so that it will not pass.

Quantitative adjustment can be expensive because it requires specialized equipment for hospitals. “Qualitative mask fitting is more common,” she said, for which her team is experimenting with the use of flavor diffusers. If you wear a mask and can taste the particles through it, it is a sign that your mask does not fit.

To determine if your mask is good for protecting others, O’Kelly recommends avoiding masks with the following characteristics:

Dun matterl: If you can see gaps between the fibers if you hold it against the light, it is a sign that viruses can get through.

Single layer: If your mask has only one (or even two) layers of dust, the filter is probably not high. The best masks have several layers or have a pocket to insert a filter, such as a PM 2.5 or HEPA filter.

Weak pass: Fit is very important in the success of a mask, as you can read in this recent study. You may not be able to get a mask that fits you perfectly, but the more and larger the gaps you see, the poorer the fit. This may be more important if you are protecting the wearer than others.

Discomfort: If the mask is very uncomfortable, you will be less likely to wear it correctly, and more likely to touch the outside of the mask or adjust it while you are around.

So how should a mask fit? The mask should fit snugly over the nose and mouth, but not too tightly to impair breathing. It’s not meant to filter out all the air you breathe, but to keep drops out of our mouths so as not to spread in the air, ‘says George Abraham, chairman of the US Board of Internal Medicine’s Board. for Infectious Diseases.

There is not much we can do to prevent a mask from falling – other than trying to find a mask that fits better.

O’Kelly also recommends that you do a fit check, although there is currently no reliable way to judge the fit of material mask. ‘Move your hand around the sides of the mask where it makes contact with your skin and see if you can feel air. If you feel the sky, there is a gap, ‘she said. But just because there’s a gap in a mask, does not mean it’s completely ineffective. It just means that it does not offer the maximum level of protection. According to O’Kelly, a dust mask with fitting problems can protect the user from more than 50 percent of particles, and well-designed dust mask with gaps can still filter more than 75 percent of particles.

In a consumer reports article, William Schaffner, a professor of infectious disease medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, recommends pulling on your mask if it slips off your nose. You can adjust the strings and make sure there is no air space on the sides. Our best choice is to choose a mask that fits properly: snug around the nose and mouth with no gaps on the sides. A mask with a wire nose bridge can help shape your mask into your face. The studies of the Task Force for Respiratory Protection found that a metal noseband can improve the fit. However, in less structured or elastic masks, the noseband can also impair performance, so the user must invoke a judgment.

But should not we just get N95s?

However comfortable it may be that cloth masks are sufficient, the United States is far behind countries such as Austria, where the government provides FFP2 masks to citizens, and Taiwan, where the government provides high quality masks that are likely to fit better. as some of the cloth mask that is in circulation. Why can’t the same thing happen here in the United States?

The argument for the government to produce masks is not new. It may do Americans good if they have a better PBT, but there are many caveats to using heavy masks like the N95. In an email, Abraham told me that it would be difficult for the government to make sure everyone has an effective N95. “The wearer must be ‘tested’ so that the mask used does not leak, but forms a good seal on the face, otherwise the ability of the mask to filter is lost,” he wrote. “As a practical reality, it is not possible to be consistent with the general public.”

There are ways to test the N95 – ‘you can put both hands around the edge of the mask, once on the face, and blow hard into it. If you feel air on your hands, you know that the mask does not fit snugly, ”Abraham explains. But according to experts, it is also not 100 percent accurate.

The N95 masks are a must for health workers as they are ideal for long-term exposure, but according to Abraham it can be excessive for short-term use. An N95 mask is perhaps more suitable for a long plane ride, for example, instead of a quick turn to the grocery store. “Using the mask would be contradictory, without doing a proper examination every time,” Abraham said, and it would be ‘cost-prohibitive and do little.’ The government could not regulate the N95 use of every citizen, and the respirators would be rendered useless if they were not properly fitted.

While the investigation O’Kelly’s group conducted on mask material is still peer-reviewed, she says that even a mask with a poor fit is better than not wearing one at all. ‘If you can see a gap at all, your mask is probably not functioning at 100 percent. However, this certainly does not mean that the mask is useless if there are gaps. “Any kind of gap can impair the effectiveness of a mask, so it is important to try to make sure that there are no spaces.

Then consider finding a different style or model that might work better if you want to wear your face mask all day. To give extra protection, spend a little extra money to get a mask with a pocket to add a PM 2.5 or HEPA filter, and shop around to get several masks that you can fit at home . Mask that slips bothers us, but if we work on it, we can ward off the real plague. It may take a little trial and error, but it’s worth fixing.