I'm sure many of you have heard on the news about the personal protective equipment (PPE) shortage. Often, the media refers to the shortage of respirators. To be more specific, the N95 respiratory masks.
In case you don't know what they look like, here are some examples on the first page when you search on Google images:
So, what does the letter and number mean? Here's a quick rundown from the CDC website.
In short, the N stands for not resistant to oily aerosol and 95 means the mask filters out 95% of the air particles. By that convention, R stands for somewhat resistant and P for resistant to oil. I imagine the P was more like oil-proof, but the idea makes sense.
Those are National Institute for Safety and Health (NIOSH) designations. That's the agency that comes up with safety procedures for various industries.
In essence, any type of those respirators above could have functioned similar to N95s. Some equipment providers would tell you the same thing. Of course, they don't share the same prices. Broader protection masks are more expensive and tend to have longer service hours. This means that they last longer.
With sterilization through hydrogen peroxide vapors, N95 masks can be reusable. You can thank Duke University for sharing their technique. I'm not sure if you could use the same procedure on other types of masks. At least, healthcare workers have a way to stretch their limited supplies.
I have R95 respirators myself, not so much because of the outbreak. Before the stay-at-home directive, I planned to assess water damage on the house. A friend of mine had such expertise to help me through it. Unfortunately, the pandemic put a hold on that operation.
A heavier duty respirator comes with drawbacks. Here are the warnings on the package:
Airflow definitely becomes an issue the more you filtrate the air. At what point do you go for a personal breathing apparatus instead? I'm no plague doctor, so I can't answer that question. I hope things don't become that dire in the near future.
For now, I will stick to my quota of standard procedure masks until further notice.