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Reducing Leakage of Surgical Masks

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A3539 - Reducing Leakage of Surgical Masks
Author Block: J. Samuel1, G. C. Smaldone2; 1SUNY at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY, United States, 2SUNY At Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY, United States.
Introduction:
The value of surgical facemasks (SF) as personal protection devices is limited primarily by leakage of air around the mask during breathing. Factors influencing face seal leakage are poorly defined. Standard SF use a metal nose pinch to reduce leakage. We tested SF using Secure Fit technology (nose and chin pinched, Crosstex, Hauppauge, NY) designed to reduce leakage and facilitate filtration of airborne particles.
Methods:
With an exposure chamber simulating a closed room, SF function was measured using a life-like manikin head wearing the test mask (Crosstex Secure Fit Ultra white fog free, GCFCXSFSF) and ventilated with a piston ventilator to simulate breathing. Test aerosols were generated in the chamber with a vibrating mesh nebulizer (Omron U22, Omron Healthcare Inc., Bannockburn, IL). Particles were labeled with Technetium99m and sampled via cascade impaction inside the manikin (mass median aerodynamic diameter 1.28 µm, gsd 1.6). Personal Exposure was defined as inhaled particles captured by a filter placed inside the manikin and reported as percent of maximum. Maximum exposure was defined as aerosol captured on the facemask plus the aerosol on the manikin filter. SF were tested under 3 conditions: SF sealed to the face (no leakage), SF with only nose pinched and SF with nose and chin pinched.
Results:
Exposure for sealed SF averaged 3.25±0.95 % of maximum (mean±SD). With the mask unsealed and the standard nose pinch utilized exposure increased to 28.8±16 %. However, using both nose and chin pinch significantly decreased exposure to 9.7±7%, P =0.0003 (Mann Whitney non parametric tests).
Conclusion:
Secure Fit technology reduces leakage and improves filtration protection of surgical facemasks.
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