Can disposable masks be worn more than once?
Air pollution
COVID-19
Disposable facemask
Durability
Filtration efficiency
Personal protective equipment (PPE)
Plastic waste
Reusability
Journal
Ecotoxicology and environmental safety
ISSN: 1090-2414
Titre abrégé: Ecotoxicol Environ Saf
Pays: Netherlands
ID NLM: 7805381
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
01 Sep 2022
01 Sep 2022
Historique:
received:
13
04
2022
revised:
11
07
2022
accepted:
18
07
2022
pubmed:
26
7
2022
medline:
24
8
2022
entrez:
25
7
2022
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Disposable facemasks are a primary tool to prevent the transmission of SARS-COV-2 during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, plastic waste generated from their disposal represents a significant environmental problem that can be reduced by maximizing the service life of disposable masks. We evaluated the effect of repeated wearing on the fitted filtration efficiency (FFE) of N95, KF94, KN95, and procedure/surgical masks. The FFEs of masks were compared following extended wearing with and without washing. Results reveal that most disposable facemasks can retain a high level of their baseline FFE after extended wearing, even after 40 h of wearing. Laundering disposable masks degraded FFE in some instances. We conclude that the durability of disposable facemask performance is considerably longer than their intended single use indication, suggesting that reusing disposable masks is a safe means of reducing plastic waste in the environment.
Identifiants
pubmed: 35872486
pii: S0147-6513(22)00748-5
doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.113908
pmc: PMC9301359
pii:
doi:
Substances chimiques
Plastics
0
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
113908Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.
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