Masks have been found to be one of the most effective tools in blunting the transmission of the coronavirus, but not all face masks are created equal.
Duke University researchers sparked a debate earlier this month regarding bandannas and neck gaiters when they published findings on the effectiveness of 14 different face coverings in filtering respiratory drops and found significant differences in performance.
The study, published in the journal Science Advances, found that fat N95 respirators performed best, followed by surgical masks and cotton masks that had a layer of synthetic material between two layers of cotton. (The U.S. is still experiencing a shortage of N95 respirators, so experts say they should be reserved for frontline health care workers.)
Neck gaiters performed the worst at suppressing the respiratory droplets that could infect others, followed by bandannas. But not everyone thinks this is a find we should live by. The New York Times even urged its readers to “save the gaiters!”
“In front of [the neck gaiter], we actually saw what appears to be an increase in particle numbers, ‘said Martin Fischer, one of the report’s authors, in a press release. “We give that to the mesh fabric that actually disperses some of those drops.” He said more, smaller particles could draw in the air longer than large droplets that might be expelled without a mask.
But a subsequent report by researchers at Virginia Tech found that gaiters provided similar protection to other cloth masks recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and that a double-gaiter provided more protection than a single layer.
It is possible that the composition of the gaiters used in the studies played a role. ‘Around this whole thing [debate] is the problem of substances that have not been properly tested, “said Eric Westman, one of the authors of the Duke study. Duke researchers used a gaiter made of a polyester-spandex blend, while the Virginia Tech study used one 100% polyester gaiter and another that was similar in composition to the Duke gaiter.
So which masks are most effective in preventing the spread of drops? It’s hard to know right now.
But Fischer, of the Duke study, suggested this general rule: “If you have two masks and one of them is really easy to see and easy to breathe and another [is] no, it’s probably a good bet that the thicker one will perform better. ”
Saskia Popescu, an epidemiologist at George Mason University and the University of Arizona, first recommended surgical masks as three-layer cotton. “I do not think we should take any of the studies to mean that we can not wear certain masks, but that for those with related findings they may occur until we have additional research,” she said.
Meanwhile, a previous study published in the journal Thorax in July found that double-layer cloth face cover “performed significantly better in reducing the droplet spread caused by coughing and sneezing” than single-layer cloth masks, but noted that single-layer face covers are even better than double-layer face masks. In that study, surgical masks also performed better than cloth masks.
“The general consensus worldwide is that masks work, and everyone should wear a mask,” Westman said.
.
