Process of Surgical Masks production: How are surgical masks made, tested, and used?

How many people that you come across on the road are not wearing masks these days? Probably none or maybe a very minimal ratio who don’t care about what’s happening in the world. Many countries declared going out without a mask is not just a precaution, but also being treated as offensive. Doctors, medical staff, the pharmaceutical crew are not stepping out without Surgery face masks, complete body robes, gloves, etc. Why not? They’re the people who get exposed to infections and viruses during a pandemic.

With the increased demand for surgical masks, the market got new, unheard brands of masks. But how can we be sure if they’re good enough for regular usage? What kind of materials are they made of? Are they suitable? Tested under proper norms? Too much confusion, right? That’s the reason for reading this article is essential. Read through and know more details:

How are surgical masks made?

As much as wearing a Face medical mask is required these days, it is also essential to understand the process of making. Usual masks are made of different materials, but surgical masks are made of non-woven materials like polyester, polycarbonate, and polyethylene, etc. to give better protection and breathing capabilities.

Making of Masks:

There are several procedures to make a mask, and below are some of them:

20gsm masks are developed by melting the plastic, applying pressure to expand. Then it’ll be set to cool off and get a stronger bond.

Meltblown technology is one of the famous and most followed processes to make a surgical face mask. In this process, melted plastic will be running through a conveyor with small holes which pumps hot air. Because of the hot air, the plastic turns into tiny fibers, and when you cool off, the particles will bind together to make a durable fabric used in making the masks with 0.5-0.7 microns.
Some these days followed the traditional process of applying layers of cotton or polyester fabric and sanitized with locally available sterilizers. But these are not useful for compelling circumstances.

Tests for Surgery face masks:

Now that several types of face medical masks are available in the market, we need to check for some test results to find if they’re reliable enough for personal usage. Let’s understand them:

Bacteria Filtration Efficiency (BFE): As the name says, this test results in finding its filtration levels of a face medical mask. In this process, the bacteria-filled aerosol is sprayed against the masks and checks how efficiently they work.

Particle Filtration Efficiency (PFE): Just like BFE, this test is used to find the filtration efficiency of latex particles in the air to define upto what size of the particles can be filtered through each type of mask.
Breath resistance: If you have to wear a surgical face mask for a whole day, it must support the breathing ability. This test will help to define the breathing capacity of a mask.

Splash resistance: This test helps in testing the passage of the droplet through surgical masks.

Surgical Face mask usage:
According to Australian Standard committee HE-013, surgery face masks are of 3 types.

Type 1: Suitable for occasional usage. Decent filtration levels.

Type 2: Good for regular medical usage. It has better filtration to protect yourself efficiently from 99% of bacteria or viruses.

Type3: Best suitable for the medical staff who are exposed to infected patients and closely work with them. It helps in avoiding fluid resistance and very less and unseen particles, etc.

Choose the surgery face masks based on the usability and make sure it passes all the above and choose the type from you’d require based on the usability from the points as mentioned earlier.