What is best mask
CoronaVirus: What Type of Mask Should You Get to Protect Against it? (N95? P100? Respirator?)
how's it going guys I'm Theo Joe and
with all this news talking about this
coronavirus potentially going around I
thought I would kind of divert from my
usual technology videos and talk about
different types of respirator masks that
I've been just doing my own research on
out of my own personal curiosity I'm not
an expert in any way but I have done a
bunch of different research on the
different ratings the different types of
masks and I can share my own personal
opinion about which ones you might want
to consider especially considering that
they are selling out very quickly so you
can learn with this video maybe
equivalents of the n95 mask but these
other ratings mean so if one sells out
you can say oh well I'll just go for
this other type that sort of thing also
I don't want to seem alarmist I'm not
trying to say oh you need to go buy a
mask for anything literally I just want
to make an informational video about the
masks themselves if you were curious
about the different types so first
here's a quick summary of the different
points I'll be talking about the major
topics so first of all we'll go over
what exactly a respirator is because
spoiler alert it does not need to look
like this big hunk and thing to be a
respirator but you should get a
respirator so we'll talk about exactly
what that means then we can go over the
different rating systems like n 95 P 100
what does that mean and also ones by
other countries so if one rating mask
sells out all over the place you can
potentially search for the equivalent
use by other countries and get the same
thing and then we can go over the
different styles of masks like what's
the difference between these my opinion
on which ones you should get if you like
have to choose one and then some other
random tips than might be useful as well
so it's to start off one of the first
and most important things I would say is
you want to be searching and looking for
respirators specifically I would be very
cautious about buying anything online
that's only labeled as being a breathing
mask or a dust mask anything that does
not have an actual respirator regulated
rating might not be any better than
literally holding a rag up in front of
your face so you're specifically looking
for something called a respirator and
like I mentioned when you sear the word
respirator you might be assuming it's
this big style mask with the
interchangeable filters that is one
style but it can also be a disposable
respirator that looks like this you can
see on here this has the
and ninety-five rating it is a
respirator this is the 3m 8000 style so
it can just be looking like a dust math
dust mask style but it is a respirator
nonetheless in regards to surgical masks
I would definitely avoid those if at all
possible
they might be better than nothing
obviously but from my understanding the
biggest problem with them is they
basically have no seal so they will just
suck in air from the sides they're
designed to protect other people from
you so a patient from being spit on by
the surgeon for example they're not
designed to filter incoming air at all
from my understanding that being said I
have seen at least one study showing
that if you can somehow get a perfect
seal with a surgical mask it is better
than nothing and can have decent
protection so if you absolutely have to
use a surgical mask you have no other
option I would suggest literally like
taping the edges you can use like
micropore medical tape and literally
tape the edges but again I probably
wouldn't even rely on that it's not
gonna be nearly as good as the actual
rated respirator also if you're looking
online be suspicious of certain listings
for example this one looks to me like
someone just literally took regular
surgical masks and listed them on Amazon
as n95 masks where I believe this is a
scam in my opinion I do not think these
are actual and 95 respirators I think
someone just is taking advantage of
people searching for n95 as just listing
regular surgical masks as that so I
think that's a scam be careful of these
and go probably with only reputable
companies like 3m or other companies you
can search for and see if they actually
are legitimately regulated masks alright
so now that you know you need to get a
respirator we can go over the different
rating systems and the equivalents in
different countries so we can start off
with the United States in this case the
ratings are determined by the ni o SH
the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health so with this system
it's going to be a letter and number
code so the letter is going to be either
n R or P and the number is either going
to be 95 99 or 100 the letter code
actually tells you how resistant the
filter is too oily interestingly enough
so n stands for not oil proof the R
stands for resistant
to oil and the P stands for oil proof
then the number will tell you what
percentage of airborne particles can be
filtered out by that filter in a
worst-case scenario testing so 95
filters that 95% of particles 99 filters
out 99% and then 100 filters out almost
100% at 99.97% and after we go over the
different country equivalents we can go
over which of these are recommended by
the CDC and which ones you might want to
consider so next up we go over the
European Union rating system this is AP
and FFP code rating system so you'll see
either p1 p2 and p3 ratings or FF p1 f f
p2 and f f p3 ratings and again these
have to do with what percentage of
airborne particles are filtered out and
from what I understand the only
difference between the P and F F P
rating systems just have to do with like
the shape of the mask but the equivalent
of the amount that each filters out are
the same so p1 + FF p1 both filter out
80% so I wouldn't go with that one the
p2 and FFP to filter on 94% and then the
p3 and FFP 3 both feel throughout 99.95%
and then the third rating system I've
come across is the one used in Korea
this is the KF rating system similar
numbers to the European Union so KF 80
is 80% filtered out KF 94 is 94% and
then k f 99 is 99% I'm not sure if it's
any more than 99% exactly the figures
I've seen literally just say 99% as for
which rating you would want to get the
CDC recommends for health care workers
even even people who are like
encountering sick people they recommend
at least n 95 or I think they just
recommend n 95 not even anything higher
than that so the equivalent would be a
p2 or FFP 2 in the EU system or KF 94 in
the Korea system obviously it would not
hurt to get a system better than that
and I'm not sure if they do recommend
higher than that if you can get it but
that's going to be your decision anyway
as for oil resistance in the u.s. system
like R and P type filters I don't think
those are necessary
I believe those are more for like if
you're using oil-based paint and
spraying them or you're spraying
pesticides that have oil base that sort
of thing I think that's what those are
really made for and I haven't seen any
CDC recommendations that suggest that
you need to have any oil resistance so
that's one of those things where I mean
if you want to get a filter that you can
use for any type of project then maybe
just want to go ahead and get a royal
resistance filter anyway but you
certainly don't need to get one based on
what I've come across one important
thing to remember those no matter what
rating filter you get it relies on a
excellent perfect seal around your face
so if you have any facial hair even this
much I would probably not trust I would
go clean-shaven if I actually was going
into area with sick people so if you
have a long beard whatever definitely
you're gonna have to shave it off or
else it's going to allow air in and
you're gonna completely negate any
filtration that you have in the mask
now as for different styles of
respirators I have two examples here we
can go over and then which one I like
the best so first we can go over this
disposable type this is the 3m 8000
model it is and 95 despite being looking
like the most basic type of one you can
imagine it basically is just a dust mask
but it is rated as a + 95 respirator and
it literally just goes over your mouth
like this and there's two of these
rubber bands and you get a seal this is
not correct by the way this I'll try to
get it correct I would spend more time
on this but basically there's a little
metal piece here that you kind of Bend
to try to get a good seal against your
nose but it's really not ideal I would
probably not trust this because you
can't really be super sure if there's
not any cracks on the sides or whatever
this is not easy to fit at all but again
it'd be better than nothing
if I was literally going into a area
with sick people and this is all I had I
probably would try to like tape down the
edges or something like that
now this other style respirator is
obviously way bigger I believe this
might be called a half mask style but
I'm not sure it's just the kind with the
interchangeable filters on it and this
particular one is the 3m 6000 series
respirator and with these there are a
ton of different types of filters you
can get on the 3m website you'll see
they have a whole list of the options
so there's party
that filters there's gas vapor filters I
would not get the gas vapor only ones I
don't believe those are rated for
protecting against any kind of particle
including viruses so you want to either
get a particulate filter or a gas and
particulate filter combo which is this
style this is actually one of the higher
rated ones this is P 100 so this
protects against pretty much everything
gas and particulate and this is another
size I have you can see what they look
like without the filters on it
they just attach on right here now as
for which style is better in my opinion
and if I had to go out with sick people
around everywhere I would definitely go
with this style for a couple of reasons
first of all it's a lot easier to check
the fit and seal because what you can do
is literally put it on your face and
then cover up the vent holes and just
see if you can breathe in at all and if
there's any air coming in the sides if
there's not then you know it's a good
seal and then you can do the same thing
even when the filters are on you can
cover up these sides filters and see if
you could breathe in at all even with
the filters on and then you know that
there is no leakage whereas with these I
mean it's really hard to test the seal
as well as you would but this one I mean
you can kind of feel maybe if you feel
any air coming in the sides but then
also with this metal piece this is
really the only way to customize how it
fits with the contour of your face I
don't know if I would trust it as much
but I mean obviously if you can get both
types that would be the best of both
worlds but if I had to rely on one I
would go with one of these a big
downside for these though first of all
is they're a lot more expensive so
you're probably going to pay at least
like $20 for the just the mask itself
and then the filters can cost anywhere
from like 7 to $10 for each filter or
like $20 for a pack if you get the
really high-end kind and based on what
I've seen even the most basic and 95
interchangeable filters are like seven
dollars per set at least but one thing
to consider of course is those might
last a lot longer these you're supposed
to throw them out on every use so with
these interchangeable ones you can reuse
them a little bit at least for several
hours again that's all gonna have to be
down to you another possible down
side is wearing for a long time these
are probably gonna be a little bit less
comfortable because these filters and
the whole mask is kind of heavy so this
means you have to strap it around your
head pretty tight so if you're wearing
this for several hours on top of making
it harder to breathe through a filter in
general this thing is going to be on
your face pretty snugly so just consider
all that another thing to consider when
you're looking for which rating a filter
is the higher the rating probably the
harder it is to breathe through so with
the p100 filter it is a little bit
laborious to breathe through so if you
are older or you're really out of shape
you might just want to stick with n95
because with this you know going out for
I don't know a few minutes with this on
probably is not gonna be that difficult
but if you get nervous you try to
breathe really hard or whatever and you
have this thing on which is really
restricting your breathing which it's
supposed to if it's working correctly
just the way if filter is it shouldn't
be easy to breathe through any type of
mask then that is something to consider
you might not want to just go with the
most powerful one and then it's hard to
breathe if you have to wear this for
like many hours as for the price of
these disposable ones usually they are
very cheap I bought a pack of these of
like 30 of them back in 2016 for less
than $20 and they do have a shelf life
of five years so I'm just kind of barely
within the shelf life but now I've seen
similar packs of n95 disposables that
are going for like forty dollars fifty
dollars plus from third-party sellers on
Amazon because all the regular ones at
normal prices are completely sold out so
really you might go online and unless
you want to spend like a hundred dollars
for a pack this big type might be
literally your only option or the most
economical option anyway and based on
what I've seen this style still is in
stock whereas the disposable kinds are
pretty much all sold out everywhere
unless you do want to pay a huge markup
whereas these are you pretty much
available still at normal prices and
interestingly you might think well
they're selling out cuz everyone's
panicking they all want to buy a mask in
case it comes to America or your country
or whatever apparently that's not the
case what I've seen is the reason a lot
of these are selling out is because a
lot of people are buying them to
basically resell to send to China and
sell at a huge markup or to send a
family but I've seen picture
there's one picture on reddit someone
posted in I believe Seattle someone
literally buying out the entire stock of
masks at Home Depot I guess to send to
China to be able to sell at a premium
and make a profit which i think is
absolutely disgusting but but you can't
really stop them I think some stores
have now implemented limits but if you
do see them selling out that could be
the reason and it might sell out sooner
than you think
now as for some other tips I should also
point out you need to protect your eyes
in some way because obviously you can
breathe in airborne particles of the
virus but you could also get some in
your eye if someone spits or whatever so
you should wear some type of I protect
glasses I've even seen people wearing
swimming goggles that's not a bad idea
at all so you protect your eyes from
getting anything in there another
important point is in addition to your
eyes and breathing in you don't want to
touch anything that's contaminated and
then touch your face while you're not
wearing a mask so once you go to take
this off definitely wash your hands
before you touch anything else including
your face or else you will get
contaminated that way and then this
can't help you so anyway I think I
covered everything I wanted to talk
about so let me know in the comments if
you found this video helpful if you want
to keep watching another related video I
made a while ago that you might find
interesting is talking about 13 cool
tools that you might have never heard of
before I'll just put that link right
here if you want to click on that and
check that out so thanks so much for
watching guys and I'll see you in the
next video
