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Testing face masks: Lab tests reveal the safest and most effective (Marketplace) - YouTube
Channel: CBC News
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[Charlsie] Putting your
masks to the test.
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Let's finally clear the air.
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What keeps you safe and
what's clearly dangerous.
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[♪♪♪]
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[Charlsie] All the
athletes wear these.
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So, 60% nylon, 30%
polyester, 91% hemp, 100%
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cotton, 100% polyurethane.
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So many masks.
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So many types.
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They're everywhere.
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A mask vending machine.
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Now I have literally
seen it all.
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And with so much
out there we want to know,
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do some masks work
better than others?
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How do you think this would do?
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Not sure.
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[Charlsie] Nine
months into the pandemic
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we still have no standards
for consumer face masks.
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That's why we're buying
more than 20 different types.
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And taking them to the
University of Toronto's
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Dalla Lana school
of public health.
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They're going to see how
effective these masks are when
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it comes to seal and fit.
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They'll also test the material
using the same standard for
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medical masks like the N95.
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The salt air is going
to come out of here.
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[Charlsie] We know the
coronavirus can be as small
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as 100 nanometres.
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About 1/1000th the
width of a human hair.
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The test will measure how many
of those tiny nano particles
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are getting through the mask.
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Then we close the box,
so we seal in all the air.
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It's one of the toughest
tests out there.
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And then it all gets measured
in the computer down there.
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[Charlsie] COVID spreads
primarily through the air,
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attaching to the droplets
you exhale. And as they become
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smaller aerosols, they
can travel great distances.
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Now notice with a mask how it
slows or stops the spread
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of those particles, protecting
others around you.
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But new science shows
masks can protect you, too.
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[Charlsie] Monica Gandhi is an
infectious disease expert at the
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University of California, San
Francisco; she's on the
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forefront of this research.
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[Charlsie] The hypothesis,
masking leads to fewer deaths
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and more asymptomatic cases.
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But there's still lots
of confusion out there.
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[Charlsie] That's what we've
asked the University of Toronto
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to find out.
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James Scott is a
Bioaerosols professor.
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He's overseeing our test.
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Fair to say, there
were some surprises.
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There were lots of surprises.
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[Charlsie] First up.
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This single layer
polyester gaiter mask.
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What was the deal with this?
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If you look at that fabric,
it has very large pores in it.
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Air can simply sail
straight through it.
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[Charlsie] Turns out not this
mask is not very effective
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at filtering out
those tiny particles.
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These bandanas don't
do so great either
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We actually
tested a bunch of these masks.
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Anything about what these masks
are made of catches your eye
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in terms of being better
than say something else?
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They all kind of look the same,
but if I were to choose one,
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I guess I'd go for either the
bandana or this white one here.
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I wouldn't use the bandana
one, it looks like it has a thin
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material and a lot
can go through that.
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So happy
you mentioned material.
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So, this bandana yes, super thin
material did not do very well.
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Same with the gaiter.
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Thinner weave didn't do so hot.
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Wow, talk about learning
something new every day.
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[Charlsie] Now...
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What about those valve masks?
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Ok, so this is something you
guys did to sort of illustrate
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the issue with the
valve mask to us.
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And there it is.
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It's just sort of
pouring out of there.
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Why do we want
everyone to wear a mask?
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Well, we want everyone to wear a
mask because we want to reduce
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the potential for there to
be this virus in the air.
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This doesn't do
any of that at all.
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[Charlsie] We find it does a
poor job of filtering particles.
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And could even further
spread infectious diseases.
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Health Canada
warns not to use them.
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But seems not everyone
is getting that message.
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Spotted in Ottawa, the
parliamentary protection
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service, wearing valve masks.
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They tell us
they're phasing them out.
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But many other places
still offer them for sale.
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Without warnings.
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The masks that perform best?
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Disposable surgical-type masks
with non-woven polypropylene.
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You can see no
holes at all in that.
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Yeah, it's like a wall.
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That fabric pulls out lots
and lots of particles.
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Far more than the other
fabrics that we've looked it.
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[Charlsie] And get this.
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A three-layer mask with
non-woven polypropylene
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between two layers of cotton
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works as well as the
gold standard, a medical N95.
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And it's way more comfortable.
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That is remarkable.
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It certainly performed honestly
almost as well as N95.
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Perfect, that's
really good to know.
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I'm looking at buying new masks
and now I know what to look for.
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[Charlsie] 100% cotton
masks though were
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an interesting story.
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These three-layer cotton masks
didn't do so well but these ones
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with only 2 layers
did much better.
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Hmm.
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What does Scott think
is happening there?
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Well, when it comes to cotton,
quality makes a big difference.
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The high thread count cotton
masks we tested,
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600 thread count and above,
performed very well.
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The higher thread count cotton,
when it's woven together
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has smaller and smaller
and smaller pores.
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As air moves through, it needs
to travel a circuitous
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pathway and that's what's
really responsible for
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trapping particles.
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So, there's more of a
chance of those
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little coronavirus guys
getting stuck on something like
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this and even more of a chance
if there's more than
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one layer of this.
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Exactly.
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[Charlsie] Bottom line, look
for masks with multiple layers.
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And the higher the thread
count cotton, the better.
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But that can be
tough to find out.
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It's probably
not on the label.
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Because manufacturers
don't have to put it there.
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The higher the thread count, the
better the job it does in terms
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of filtering those potentially
harmful particles.
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Wow, that's interesting.
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[Charlsie] But that's not the
most important thing when
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it comes to selecting a
mask that's right for you.
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Fit is the first thing.
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No matter how good the mask
is, if it doesn't fit your face,
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then put it back.
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[Charlsie] There's barely any
leakage coming from this mask.
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Now check this out.
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This is the unsealed mask.
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[Scott] If the mask doesn't fit
your face, then air will simply
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move around rather than
through the mask.
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If your glasses fog up, your
mask doesn't fit very well.
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See how it's sealed?
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But now watch this one.
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Oh wow, yeah.
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There is smoke everywhere.
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-Fog and steam.
-Oh, yeah.
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Leakage.
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Does any of this change what
masks you'd get in the future?
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Oh, absolutely.
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It makes you think
before you put one on.
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If your glasses fog up,
it's a sign your fit over
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your nose is not tight enough.
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So, I think I need
to change my mask.
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I think you might.
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