Particle and aerosol research (한국입자에어로졸학회지)

Korean Association for Particle and Aerosol Research (한국입자에어로졸학회)
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Filtration Performance Evaluation of Various Respiratory Face Masks Against Sub-Micron Particles

다양한 호흡기 보호용 면체 마스크의 서브 마이크론 입자에 대한 여과 성능 평가

  • Zainul Alim Ali Murtadlo (Climate Change Research Division, Korea Institute of Energy Research) ;
  • Cho Hee-Joo (Climate Change Research Division, Korea Institute of Energy Research) ;
  • Park Hyun-Seol (Climate Change Research Division, Korea Institute of Energy Research)
  • ;
  • 조희주 (한국에너지기술연구원 기후변화연구본부) ;
  • 박현설 (한국에너지기술연구원 기후변화연구본부)
  • Received : 2023.03.14
  • Accepted : 2023.03.26
  • Published : 2023.03.31
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Abstract

Respiratory face masks are protective facepieces that are designed to filter inhaled air. They are easy-to-use devices that can protect the wearer against various hazardous particles in the air. Respiratory face masks also prevent the spread of viruses and bacteria-containing droplets that are released from the coughing or sneezing of the infected people. During the COVID-19 pandemic, various types of face masks have circulated on the market. Their ability to filter sub-micron particles, which are the sizes of harmful particulate matter and airborne viruses, needs to be investigated. Their breathability, the easiness of breath through the mask, also needs to be considered. In this study, wwe evaluated the performance of filters used for different types of face masks certified by different standards including Korean (KF94, KF80, KF-AD), USA (N95), and Chinese (KN95) standards. We also tested the filters of nanofiber masks and surgical masks for which there are no standards for filtration test. The N95 mask filters showed the highest quality factor for capturing virus-sized particles. The other types of mask filters have acceptable performance except for nanofiber mask filters whose performance is very low.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was conducted under framework of the research and development program of the Korea Institute of Energy Research (GP2020-0018-08), Republic of Korea.

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