Comparison of different types of masks

Face masks are personal protective tools used to prevent or to limit the spread of respiratory infections that can be transmitted through the liquid droplets or aerosols. Here we are trying to compare different properties of different types of masks.

General information comparison of different mask types

Mask Type	Picture	Purpose/usage	Users	Protection from
Cloth, Cotton, gauze, homemade reusable masks or paper masks		Prevent large droplets or particles expelled from the person to the environment	People who are working or visiting crowded places	This mask types mainly to control expelled particles from people to the environment
Surgical mask		Protect from large particles and prevent expelling and spreading large droplets or particles to the environment	Surgeons	Can protect from bacteria and germs
N95 respirator		Provide higher protection by reducing the exposure to very small airborne particles and contaminants.	Healthcare workers and people working with dust, mold, etc.	Higher protection against bacteria and germs in the small airborne particles
R95 respirator		Use to get protection against oil-based particles from sprays.	People who have to work with oil based particles but not harmful vapors.	Provide protection against certain oil and non-oil based particles.
P95 respirator		Use to get protection against oil-based particles from sprays. Similar to R95 but a lifetime is 40 hours or 30 days, whichever comes first.	People who have to work with oil based particles but not harmful vapors.	Provide protection against certain oil and non-oil based particles.

There are lots of different types of respirators, and they are categorized into a couple of series as below, according to the usage.

Mask series	Mask types	Protection against	Not suitable
N Series	N95, N99 and N100	Provide protection against solid and liquid aerosol particulates.	Not resistant to oil.
R Series	R95	Provide protection against certain oil and non-oil based particles. (Lifetime 8 hours.)	Not resistant to not harmful vapors.
P Series	P95 and P100	Provide protection against certain oil and non-oil based particles. (Lifetime is 40 hours or 30 days, whichever comes first.)	Not resistant to not harmful vapors.

Reusable Respirators

There are 2 types of reusable respirators,

• Half Facepiece Respirators
• Full Facepiece Respirators

You can use either of them depending on the exposure level. This will help to get a protection against both particles and/or gases and vapors in any work environment. Reusable respirator requires the following: gas & vapor cartridges, combination cartridges, filters and/or pre-filters.

Below are some parts of reusable respirators,

• Gas & vapor cartridges

  If you are exposed to gases and vapors, you need to arrach gas & vapor cartridges to your reusable full face mask or reusable half-face mask.

• Filters

  Filters only aerosols like dust, mists, fumes, smoke, mold, bacteria, etc. Some filters work for some levels of gas and vapor also.

• Combination cartridges

  If you are exposed to both gas, vapor, and particulates, you need to attach combination cartridges to your reusable full face mask or reusable half-face mask.

In the next article, we will compare more details about Medical masks.