How to deal with masks after 4 hours of use? Popular knowledge of mask standards

At present, masks are out of stock nationwide. In order to prevent the new coronavirus, masks are generally useless after four hours of use. So, how to deal with masks after 4 hours of use? Be sure to avoid more and more garbage, or unscrupulous merchants recycling them for the second time. During this period, you must pay attention to hygiene and personal safety!

How to deal with the mask after 4 hours of use

① Masks used by ordinary people: After use, they can be sorted and disposed of as ordinary household waste.

② If it has been used by pathogens or suspected pathogens: treat it as infectious medical waste.

③ Patient’s family members or other personnel: If they are obviously accompanying the patient, the used masks should be treated as medical waste like masks used by pathogens.

Popular knowledge on mask standards

1. Medical surgical masks: Standard YY-0469-2011

2. N95 mask: US NIOSH certified, non-oily particle filtration efficiency ≥ 95%.

3. KN95 mask: complies with China's GB 2626 mandatory standard, with a non-oily particle filtration efficiency of ≥95%.

4. The F95 standard has three more standards than the N95 standard, one for leakage rate (F95 shall not be greater than 8%), one for inhalation resistance (not higher than 230 Pa), and one for inhalation resistance (not higher than 200 Pa). The N95 standard has only one filtration level. In fact, both are the same, with a filtration rate higher than 95%.

The test methods for the filtration efficiency of the above three levels of masks are exactly the same! Therefore, the filtration efficiency levels are consistent.

Is it necessary for ordinary people to use N95 masks?

Ordinary people do not need to use [medical] N95 masks at all. Please use [civilian] N95 masks or medical surgical masks. Unfortunately, due to the lack of reasonable guidance, domestic [medical] N95 masks have long been sold out, and even the [medical] N95 masks of large American e-commerce companies have been sold out.

The epidemic is at its peak, but the factories and express delivery services are suspended during the Spring Festival. You may have seen the trending searches such as #Exposed images of mask factories expediting production#, but the reality is that this is rare. In recent days, many exposures and reflections have made everyone realize more, but at this moment, complaining is meaningless, paying tribute is meaningless, and donations are the hard truth.

Precautions for wearing masks

1. Wash your hands before wearing a mask, or avoid touching the inside of the mask with your hands while wearing it to reduce the possibility of contamination of the mask.

2. Distinguish the inside and outside, top and bottom of the mask. The light-colored side is the inside and should be close to the mouth and nose, and the dark-colored side faces outwards; one end of the metal strip is the top of the mask.

3. Never squeeze the mask with your hands, including the N95 mask. They can only isolate the virus on the surface of the mask. If you squeeze the mask with your hands, the virus will soak the mask with the droplets, and there is still a chance of infection.

4. Make sure the mask fits the face as closely as possible. A simple test method is: after putting on the mask, exhale forcefully, and the air cannot leak out from the edge of the mask.