Abstract View
Properties of Materials Considered for Improvised Masks
STEVEN ROGAK, Timothy Sipkens, Hamed Nikookar, Mark Gunn, Jing Jane Wang, University of British Columbia
Abstract Number: 616
Working Group: The Role of Aerosol Science in the Understanding of the Spread and Control of COVID-19 and Other Infectious Diseases
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, was deemed a pandemic by the World Health Organization in 2020, with global reach and killing half a million people by the beginning of July 2020. The pandemic saw a surge in demand for surgical masks and N95 respirators by healthcare practitioners, which made it impossible for the general public to obtain adequate respiratory protection. This was convolved with confusing messaging from officials about whether mask use by the general public was advisable. In response, people started using common household materials, such as cloth masks, with little understanding of the factors controlling mask effectiveness. This work reconsiders a range of these materials and presents size-resolved penetration curves and pressure drop, which gives a measure of breathability, for each material. A sodium chloride challenge aerosol is generated using an ultrasonic mesh nebulizer, before being charge neutralized and passed through a portion of the candidate mask material, and finally characterized using an optical particle sizer (OPS). For thin materials, multiple layers were also considered. Gauze, dried baby wipes, and a knit jersey material were found to perform relatively well, while silk and spandex performed relatively poorly.