Putting a stocking over your facemask may make it better at preventing COVID-19
Peer-reviewed: This work was reviewed and scrutinised by relevant independent experts.
Experimental study: At least one thing in the experiment was changed to see if it had an impact on the subjects (often people or animals) – eg: changing the amount of time mice spend on an exercise wheel to find out what impact it has on weight loss.
People: This is a study based on research using people.
Experimental study: At least one thing in the experiment was changed to see if it had an impact on the subjects (often people or animals) – eg: changing the amount of time mice spend on an exercise wheel to find out what impact it has on weight loss.
People: This is a study based on research using people.
Tests of surgical and cloth masks have revealed that sticking nylon stocking material over the top of the masks can make them more effective at removing particles from the air, suggesting improving the fit may be one way to make them more effective. The tests found that surgical masks removed 53-75 per cent of particles from the air, but the addition of a stocking-type layer pushed this up to around 90 per cent. The cloth masks were more variable in efficiency, but these too generally improved when the nylon layer was added.
Journal/conference: Matter
Link to research (DOI): 10.1016/j.matt.2020.07.006
Organisation/s: Northeastern University, USA
Funder: Funding for this work was provided by Northeastern University Office of the Provost through a COVID-19
Seed Grant.
Attachments:
Note: Not all attachments are visible to the general public
