#respirtor #mask #N95 #covid19 #KN95 #USA

Here's why it is so important to choose a NIOSH-approved N95 respirator.

At the beginning of the pandemic, the US government was not prepared and didn't have enough N95 respirators in its Strategic National Stockpile for everyone in the country. They didn't even have enough for all of the healthcare workers.

NIOSH was commissioned to do a study of internationally sourced KN95 masks and others, so that healthcare workers would be able to assess the efficiency of masks they were getting from non-approved sources. It was a scaled-down version of the testing that the agency does for respirators seeking NIOSH approval, and was for emergency information only -- to be used until the supply of approved respirators was sufficient.

They found that the filtering efficiency for those KN95 masks ranged from about 30-99%, with one mask showing 0% filtration! They also found that 60% of the masks sourced internationally were counterfeit.

This is why it is so important to choose a NIOSH-approved N95 respirator (or N99, N100) from a reliable source. Otherwise you are putting yourself at risk.

NIOSH-approved N95 respirators are at least 95% efficient at removing very small particles and they NEVER have ear-loops; they always use straps that go all the way around the head.

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/respirators/testing/NonNIOSHresults.html