What is an N95 mask?

N95 mask refers to one of the nine types of dust masks certified by NIOSH (National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health), where "N" represents that its material is only suitable for filtering non-oily particles, and "95" represents its filtering efficiency Up to at least 95%. The particles filtered by the N95 mask can be as small as 0.3 microns in diameter. In the test, it blocked particles with a diameter of 0.075 microns, and the success rate was 95%. The diameter of the coronavirus pneumonia (SARS) virus is about 0.1 to 0.12 microns.
NIOSH mask classification method:
According to the lipophilicity of the material, NIOSH (National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) in the United States divides mask filter materials into the following three types:
1. N series: N stands for Not resistant to oil, which can be used to protect non-oily suspended particles with no time limit.
2. R series: R stands for Resistant to oil, which can be used to protect non-oily suspended particles and sweat-oil suspended particles. The time limit is eight hours.
3. P series: P stands for oil Proof, which can be used to protect non-oily suspended particles and sweaty suspended particles without time limit.
In addition, NIOSH divides each type of filter media into 95 (95%), 99 (99%), 100 (99.97%) three types according to the filtration efficiency. In this way, each of the three types of materials has three filtration efficiency, so there are a total of nine grades. Masks.
N95 masks, R95 masks, P95 masks with 95% filtration efficiency;
Filtering efficiency 99% N99 mask, R99 mask, P99 mask;
The filtering efficiency is 99.97%. N100 mask, R100 mask, P100 mask.
Since most of the biological particles are non-oily particles, we can use N-level anti-bacteria and anti-flu virus daily. The N95 mask grade means that it can protect against non-oily particles with a filtration efficiency of 95%, and the N95 mask is the most basic level among all certification levels.
Other national N95 mask grade filtering standards
1. European Union EN149 standard
FFP1: Minimum filtering effect>80%
FFP2: Minimum filtering effect>94%
FFP2: Minimum filtering effect>97%
2. Australia AS1716 standard
P1: Minimum filtering effect>80%
P2: Minimum filtering effect>94%
P2: Minimum filtering effect>99%
3. Japanese MOL standard
DS1:
DS2: 99%
DS3: 99.9%
Therefore, whether it is N95 masks, R95, P95, and N99, R99, P99, and even N100, R100, and P100 masks with higher filtering functions, they can effectively filter suspended particulates or germs. In addition, FFP1, FFP2 and FFP3 industrial masks that pass EU standards can also effectively filter out particles or germs.