N95 is the first standard proposed by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). "N" means "not suitable for oily particles" and "95" means a barrier to 0.3 micron particles under the test conditions specified in the NIOSH standard. The rate must be higher than 95%.
Therefore, N95 is not a specific product name, but should be a standard. As long as NIOSH reviews and implements this standard mask, it can be called "N95".
N95 masks usually have a breathing valve device that looks like a pig's mouth, so N95 is also often called a "piggy mask". In the protective test of particles below PM2.5, the transmittance of N95 is less than 0.5%, which means that more than 99% of the particles are blocked.
Therefore, N95 masks can be used for occupational respiratory protection, including the prevention of certain microbial particles (such as viruses bacteria molds tuberculosis Bacillus anthracis), N95 is undoubtedly a good filter, the protection effect in common masks.
However, although the protective effect of N95 is high in the protection of ordinary masks, there are still some performance limitations, which makes N95 masks not suitable for everyone, and it is not foolproof protection.
First of all, N95 is poor in breathability and comfort, and has large breathing resistance when worn. It is not suitable for elderly people with chronic respiratory diseases and heart failure for a long time to avoid breathing difficulties.
Secondly, when wearing the N95 mask, you should pay attention to clamp the nose clip and tighten the jaw. The mask and face should fit closely to prevent particles in the air from being sucked in through the gap between the mask and face, but because each person ’s face is very different, if the mask is not designed to fit the user ’s face, it may cause leakage.
In addition, N95 masks are not washable, and their use period is 40 hours or 1 month, so the cost is significantly higher than other masks. Therefore, consumers cannot buy N95 blindly because it has good protection. When purchasing N95 masks, full consideration should be given to the purpose of protection and the special circumstances of the user.