If you are going to buy a face mask to protect yourself and others from COVID-19, make sure it’s a three-layered mask. You might have already heard this recommendation, but researchers have now found an additional reason why three-layered masks are safer than single or double-layered alternatives.
While this advice was originally based on studies that showed three layers prevented small particles from passing through the mask pores, researchers have now shown that three-layered surgical masks are also most effective at stopping large droplets from a cough or sneeze from getting atomized into smaller droplets. These large cough droplets can penetrate through the single- and double-layer masks and atomize to much smaller droplets, which is particularly crucial since these smaller droplets (often called aerosols) are able to linger in the air for longer periods of time. Researchers studied surgical masks with one, two and three layers to demonstrate this behavior.
The researchers reported their results in Science Advances on March 5.
The team notes that single and double-layer masks do provide protection in blocking some of the liquid volume of the original droplet and are significantly better than wearing no mask at all. They hope their findings on ideal mask pore size, material thickness, and layering could be used by manufacturers to produce the most effective masks designs.
Read more at University of California - San Diego
Photo Credit: Anestiev via Pixabay