Face Mask Redesign

Academic Study:

https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/36/eabd3083 (Fischer et al)

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/advs.202003155 (Choi et al)

My mask redesign imagines using clear plastic rather than fabric or other solid material, so I really wanted an academic study on the efficacy on those. Unfortunately, either because they aren’t used enough in comparison to regular face masks or it just hasn’t happened yet, there are no studies (that I could find) on plastic masks. This paper that I read over was an experiment on how well different types of face masks work.

They experimented with the regular surgical masks most people wear, the N95, bandanas, and other miscellaneous fabric masks. They measured the droplets that were able to go through the masks during speech, and found that the N95 and surgical masks had little to no droplets go through, whereas the other fabric ones especially the bandana allowed a large number to go through, but overall they all had fewer droplets than no mask at all.

 

“Speaking through some masks (particularly the neck gaiter) seemed to disperse the largest droplets into a multitude of smaller droplets, which explains the apparent increase in droplet count relative to no mask in that case. Considering that smaller particles are airborne longer than large droplets (larger droplets sink faster), the use of such a mask might be counterproductive. Furthermore, the performance of the valved N95 mask is likely affected by the exhalation valve, which opens for strong outwards airflow. While the valve does not compromise the protection of the wearer, it can decrease the protection of persons surrounding the wearer. In comparison, the performance of the fitted, non-valved N95 mask was far superior.” (Fisher)

Both of these academic papers conclude that the masks are there to protect others, as the point is to prevent the amount of droplets that travel through the mask, and are not going to be as effective in protecting the wearer from the disease, which is why it is important for everyone to wear one.

In relation to my idea of using plastic, it could hopefully be as effective as the N95 and surgical because it doesn’t require a filter and is solid, nothing goes through plastic.

Research:

As has already been stated from the academic study, cotton and other fabric/home made masks are not ask effective as professional N95 and surgical masks, due to their lack of filtration.

Aside from the efficacy, I wanted to look into the breathability. The biggest complaint from people who try to get a health exemption is that they have a disability which restricts their ability to breathe in the mask. Generally, the common surgical masks that physicians and dentists use for hours during normal check ups and long procedures are meant to be breathable considering they can’t do their jobs without the ability to breathe.

The biggest hindrance in switching to plastic is the breathability. It wouldn’t rely on a filter but it would also needed to be fitted, so there is no room for creases and air exposure.

The gist of my design is to create something where people can keep their masks on while they eat or drink something, but keep their nose covered at the same time. So it’s important to find out how much mouth vs nose breathing differs when it comes to the risk of COVID:

Why breathing correctly is crucial to COVID-19 prevention

This article was very interesting because it claims that people are more at risk of contracting covid if they are mouth breathers than if they only breathe from their nose. This is because bacteria gets trapped in the nasal mucous which acts as a filter. Also, mouth breathers inhale a larger volume of air which increases risk of infection. Lastly, the nose produces nitric oxide and mouth breathing decreases these levels. NO is toxic to coronavirus so higher levels is better for preventing getting sick. However, it’s still important to cover your nose with the mask so that potentially infected mucous doesn’t travel to other people near you especially if you sneeze.

This is important information to have, because it’s saying there’s a smaller risk of infection to have the nose exposed than the mouth. However, all articles say that it’s still important to cover the nose.

https://www.popsci.com/story/health/clear-masks-options-accessibility/

This article talks about different things associated with the clear plastic mask. It points out the little research done on the effectiveness of the clear mask. But it’s about the importance of them to those who hard of hearing and rely on facial expressions or lip reading to understand others. This is a huge issue for a marginalized population. The issues it brings up are an increased difficulty in breathing compared to other masks and that they can often fog up which defeats the purpose of being able to see. So this brings up some areas that I would need to look into for recreating a plastic mask and try to prevent these issues.
For one I originally considered a half fabric prototype which would allow the mask to be continuously covered as well as make it easier to breathe, and I would need to create and test this but it could potentially avoid fogging up the bottom half of the mask.

Note: While this product’s target audience is for those who are hard of hearing, it’s unfortunate that those who can hear fine do not consider others when choosing a mask. I need to figure out the motivation factor, which is why I think presenting this as a way to eat or drink in public in a safer way could be encouraging to people.

Dream Review:

This new face mask is an unusual but unique take on the average surgical mask. Too many people are walking around exposed while they eat, or they’re unsure where to put their mask while doing so (the under chin or shoved in their pocket). This mask solves those issues, you can keep your mask on while you indulge and still lower the risk of spreading corona or other bacteria to people around you than if you completely exposed your nose and mouth.

Moodboard: