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Old Jul 13, 2020 | 10:10 pm
  #186  
Adam Smith
Moderator, Air Canada; FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
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Please don't waste your money on N95 masks. Unless you have been fit-tested, are wearing the correct size, and have the mask properly secured at all times, the N95 is essentially no better for you than a cloth face mask or surgical mask.

My wife is an emergency nurse, responsible for training in her department, and the above comes from her, as does the following. It was a real struggle at the beginning of the pandemic to remind doctors and nurses on how to correctly use their N95 masks, and of the hundreds of people she has seen wearing them out and about in the community, not one has been wearing the mask in a manner that would actually give them the benefit of an N95. Most people have the wrong size, and nearly everyone wears them incorrectly - wearing it tight enough that it forms a seal isn't very comfortable, so most people have them far too loose. If it's too loose, you're breathing in lots of particles from around the mask, bypassing the filter that's the whole point of the N95 mask.

So save your money and hassle and just wear a cloth or surgical mask. You will also find yourself far more comfortable.
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