Mask Filtration Rates - Non Medical Masks - Lab tested in Canada
As custom apparel specialists product knowledge is of the upmost importance. We like to understand our cycling jersey that won this year’s Tour De France as much as our non-medical face masks! We are NOT medical professionals and present the information for you to draw your own conclusions.
In line with the latest guidelines from Public Health Canada, we took our latest 3 Layer masks, with the recommended 25 gm polypropylene middle layer, to Breathe Medical Manufacturing in Kelowna, BC. They tested our 3 layer masks for BFE and PFE rates with and without PM2.5 Carbon Filters.
The test results were very interesting especially when compared to the traditional / current non-medical masks available in Canada.
BFE Test (Bacterial Filtration Efficiency)
Challenge Microbe:
• Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 538
• Flow Rate : 28.3 L/min
• Mean Particle Size: 2.95um
BFE Results:
The BFE rate with a filter averaged 97.91%, comfortably above the 95% threshold.
The 3 layer polypropylene mask without a filter came in at 75%
PFE Test (Particulate Filtration Efficiency)
Particles:
• Monodispersed polystyrene latex spheres
• Particle Size: 0.1um
• Flow Rate: 30.8 L/Min
PFE Results:
The PFE rate with a filter came in at 74.38%
Our 3 layer polypropylene mask without a filter was 70.15%
How do these results compare to the single layer and double layer non-medical reusable masks on the market today? For this we refer to the British Medical Journals’ extensive testing. You can see that in their study, single layer masks offer 35% filtration efficiency and 2 Layer masks a little better but only a 45% efficiency. Well below our new mask test results.
We conclude that Health Canada are well aware of the significant difference a middle polypropylene layer can make to these non-medical reusable masks.
We learned our 3 layer masks with the polypropylene middle layer offer a significant leap in filtration efficiency to 75% BFE and 70% PFE (without additional filters) whilst maintaining comfort and reusability.
To learn more about this product and our mask options please click here or submit the form below and we would delighted to assist.