There is a new research claim that neck grids like Buffs are worse than not wearing a mask at all. I’m not convinced that this study should be taken at face value, but it’s also reasonable to suspect Buffs, bandanas and other face masks that are not designed to do the job of a mask.
(To be very clear: Buff is a company that makes thin, spandex-y necks that have become eponymously known to many as “buffs.” Sy ek make a purpose-built face mask. That mask was not tested in the study we are talking about here.)
We have long known that N95 respirators do the best job of protecting both the wearer and others. Surgical ‘procedure masks’ –those disposable medical masks—are the next best thing, keep most (but not all) of your respiratory drops to yourself, while perhaps providing protection from others.
Since those masks are not always available, dust masks are what have bothered most of us. Cloth masks provide protection in a similar way as disposable procedure masks, although they may not be as effective.
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That said, not all masks are created equal. While we were all scrambling to find dust masks, companies started advertising different types. Everyone whoever sells gaiters advertises their gaiters; companies that made masks with valves sold masks with valves. Of course, that does not mean that these are the best carts.
What this study found
So far, there is no great way to test masks to see if they are “good enough” to protect against the coronavirus. Medical masks go through certain quality control checks, but fashion masks do not have such a protocol. Not yet the ones you sewed or improvised at home.
This was published by a group of researchers from North Carolina a paper describing a cheap tool that could be used to test masks. The device is basically a box with a laser and a camera for mobile phones; you stick your masked face up to the box and talk into it. Light from the laser drops the droplets spewing out of the mouth (or not, depending on how well the mask works), and it is picked up by the camera.
The device does not test whether people have become ill or an infected dose of virus has been delivered; it just looks like drops in the air. No coronavirus was involved in this test.
That, to test the device, researchers spoke in the coffin while wearing a variety of masks. As expected, people produced very few drops when wearing N95s, with surgical masks performing better and dust masks differing according to their materials and construction.
Here, however, is the big caveat: this was a proof-of-concept to see if the box could measure drops, and if the drops looked different from mask to mask. It is net a definitive test of the masks themselves. In fact, the researchers wrote in their conclusion:
Again, we would like to point out that the mask tests performed here (one speaker for all masks and four speakers for selected masks) are for demonstration purposes only. Variations of subject are to be expected, for example due to differences in physiology, mask fit, head position, speech pattern, and so on.
What do we need to know about different types of masks?
First, that if something is not really a mask, we should not expect it to perform as one. Both the CDC and WHO recommend that a mask fits snugly around your mouth and nose, which excludes buffs, such as bandanas tied bank-robber-style. See also warn against wearing a mask with an exhalation valve, because that just injects your cooling air into the world.
None of this is new. What is new in this study is the suggestion that a buff May be less than nothing, for it is open tissue the body divide larger drops into smaller ones. That cow be a problem. See all those weird words? That’s the best way I can accurately describe the results. It is quite possible that buffs may get worse than nothing, but the question needs more study. No one has investigated whether buffs increase the chance that someone could get sick.
I think it’s worth considering your buff, if you wear one. I know a lot of laps like to have someone around their neck so they can pull it up when they pass one. We now have some data to suggest that may not be a great idea, but we are al knew that a buff is not really a mask – so maybe we should not have relied on them in the first place.
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