{"id":17924,"date":"2020-07-22T15:07:13","date_gmt":"2020-07-22T15:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/?p=17924"},"modified":"2023-06-08T18:26:31","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T18:26:31","slug":"coronavirus-mask-fit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/07\/22\/coronavirus-mask-fit","title":{"rendered":"Mask\u2019s fit more important than fabric"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Shahbaz
Shahbaz Quereshi adjusts a mask. Marc Studer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are two factors to consider for a mask to protect against spreading the COVID-19 coronavirus. One is the material. The other is how the mask fits on the face \u2014 whether air leaks around the edges. When it comes to filtration, fit is more important than fabric, says Dan Jaffe<\/a>, a professor of environmental chemistry at the University of Washington Bothell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMasks are basically air filters. I know a lot about air filtration, and I know a lot about aerosols because I\u2019ve been studying them for the last 30 years,\u201d said Jaffe, who researches atmospheric chemistry, smog and other air pollution such as wildfire smoke. In addition to his position in the School of STEM<\/a> at UW Bothell, he\u2019s also editor-in-chief of the journal Aerosol and Air Quality Research<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any mask will filter infected droplets from a sneeze or cough, but finer aerosols, such as those people produce by singing, also are a mode of transmission, Jaffe said. That\u2019s why mask leakage is an issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you or I go to the grocery store and put our masks on, we\u2019re leaking a lot of air both in and out around the edges of the mask. That\u2019s not great,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How good is your mask?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Masked
Masked mannequin. Marc Studer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With the importance \u2014 often the requirement \u2014 of wearing masks, Jaffe decided to study their effectiveness with a student in his research group, Shahbaz Qureshi, who graduated in June with a degree in Biochemistry. They developed a simple test using a mannequin head equipped with a \u201cbreathing\u201d tube. Air sucked through a mask is sampled by a device that measures particles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One finding: A tight-fitting mask \u2014 one that is taped to the mannequin face \u2014 is twice as efficient. Since people are unlikely to tape a mask to their face, the researchers are looking for creative, acceptable ways to improve that seal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The testing detects aerosols commonly found in room air, Jaffe said. The next step in the research would be to put the masked mannequin in a box where a controlled aerosol, such as incense, would be introduced and measured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Student challenge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Dan
Dan Jaffe. Marc Studer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jaffe plans to present the filtration problem to students in a chemistry course he\u2019s teaching this fall, Quantitative Environmental Analysis. \u201cStudents will for themselves see: How good is my mask, and how important is the fit?\u201d Jaffe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019ll be challenged to come up with improvements, maybe a design change or adhesive. \u201cWhat could you do around the edges of the mask to keep air from leaking in?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tests so far look promising, said Jaffe. They reinforce the message that masks reduce the spread of the coronavirus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll masks reduce the particulate \u2014 the aerosols you\u2019re putting out in the world and the aerosols you\u2019re breathing in \u2014 both ways to some degree,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you wear it properly and you have a tight-fitting mask, it reduces it a lot more.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When deciding on a face mask, fit is more important than fabric, says Dan Jaffe, a professor of environmental chemistry who is testing how well different masks filter particles from the air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_is_archived":false,"_archived_contact_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[202,218,249,229,214],"tags":[],"school":[421],"class_list":["post-17924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus-news","category-community-engagement","category-coronavirus","category-faculty","category-research","school-school-of-stem"],"acf":{"related_links":{"toggle_visibility":false,"link_1":null,"link_2":null,"link_3":null,"link_4":null,"link_5":null},"highlight_box":{"toggle_visibility":false,"title":"","content":"","button":null,"button_style":"angled-purple-button","button_screen_reader_text":""},"contact_type_1":{"toggle_visibility":true,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"contact_type_2":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"social_media":{"toggle_visibility":false,"facebook_url":"","instagram_url":"","linkedin_url":"","twitter_url":"","youtube_url":""},"blog_archive_sidebar_visibility":false},"yoast_head":"\nMask\u2019s fit more important than fabric - 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