Research: masks from which tissues best protect against coronavirus

Countries are starting to remove some of the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus. Although quarantine is weakening, people hesitate to go out without masks and often sew them on their own. Edition Fox News told which material is best suited to protect oneself and others.

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Health officials recommend wearing N95 masks to medical professionals. But if you are not a medical professional, then you can buy ready-made or sew on your own.

A team of researchers tested how various tissues can filter and trap extremely fine particles. They found that hybrid tissues filter most particles.

“We conducted research on several common fabrics, including cotton, silk, chiffon, flannel, various synthetic materials and combinations thereof,” the scientists explain.

According to the researchers, the filtration efficiency of hybrid fabrics such as cotton-silk and cotton flannel was more than 80% for particles smaller than 300 nanometers and more than 90% for particles larger than 300 nanometers. A nanometer is equal to one billionth of one meter.

On the subject: How to make a protective mask yourself: a simple step-by-step instruction

"We suggest that the improved performance of hybrids is likely to be due to the combined effect of mechanical and electrostatic filtration."

Researchers also found that with fabrics such as cotton, a large number of threads provides the greatest filtration. The smaller the holes, the fewer particles can penetrate.

“Overall, we found that combinations of different publicly available fabrics used in cloth masks have the potential to provide significant protection against aerosol particle penetration,” the scientists said.

However, this information does not matter if your mask does not fit you in size.

“Our studies also imply that tears (caused by poor mask fit) can result in a reduction in filtration efficiency of more than 60%,” the researchers said.

Read also on ForumDaily:

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