Face Masks, Filters, Forest Fires & Covid-Fatigue
The very act of breathing seems to be higher on the collective radar of the public at large.
Between recent forest fires in the USA, wildfire smoke traveling around the globe, and the potential for airborne transmission of COVID-19, air quality discussions have expanded beyond the bounds of asthmatics and climate enthusiasts to dog walkers wondering if it’s safe to take their pets outside.
Although the demand for face masks, air filters and purifiers weren’t initiated by 2020’s fire season, the firestorm engulfing the West Coast seems to emphasize the importance of having available and effective face coverings available.
In Seattle, public health officials encouraged individuals to stay indoors and make homemade air purifiers out of HVAC filters and box fans. Local stores quickly ran out of filtration supplies. San Francisco may as well have been under yet another lockdown due to hazardous air quality indicators. At a time when the average person is more likely to have a face mask than they were in 2019, many started wondering “What exactly will my mask protect me from?”
The answer? “It depends.”
Non-medical face masks are becoming more widely accepted as a measure of COVID-19 prevention and mediation. Many state and local governments have encouraged (or mandated) the use of face coverings to combat the spread of COVID-19, stressing that while the clinical efficacy of face coverings is variable depending on the type of covering and its fit, wearing a mask has been shown to reduce the viral load in cases of airborne transmission, which can lead to fewer and less severe cases of COVID-19.
Yet shortages of medical-grade masks have ushered in homespun improvisation, with citizens of all walks of life creating homemade masks to support the cause of public health. Teachers have made face shields out of page protectors. Quarantined individuals eager to channel their helplessness into something purposeful have made face masks en masse for donations to essential workers. Hikers and runners have transformed gaitors from workout-wear to workday-chic. The burgeoning world of masks is still coming to terms with what works and what doesn’t, but generally, is guided by a few rules-of-thumb that most experts can agree upon —
- That face coverings are likely to reduce transmission rates of COVID-19, but aren’t 100% effective
- That protection rates vary between types of masks and how masks are worn
- That co-occuring variables (face-touching, mask-vents, moisture-wicking materials, setting your mask down on a dirty surface then rewearing) may negate the prophylactic benefits of masks
- The more layers of filtration you have, the more effective your mask is likely to be
To that end, people have been content to brave grocery stores with cotton-clothed faces and common sense. Washing hands, wearing a mask, and staying away from people, even self-isolating in one’s home, have been difficult but do-able solutions.
But when wildfire smoke started permeating those homes and proved health-hazardous, individuals found ways to retrofit Covid-gear to serve more than one purpose.
Jacob Emery and Savannah Suttle, cofounders of MASQ, adapted PM2.5 filters to include adhesive and aromatherapy. “Originally, we’d designed Respa, the aromatherapeutic filters, as a way of helping people enjoy their mask experience more. If you’re an essential worker who has to go into the office and wear a mask all day, it can really stink. Literally. Like, half the battle of wearing a mask is the fact that you automatically hate yourself for eating lunch,” says Emery. “But when the smoke arrived in September, it smelled terrible, and was just so bad for your lungs. So we started wearing our masks and PM2.5 filters all the time because they actually filtered most of the particulate matter suspended in the air. It also didn’t hurt that everything smelled nice when we wore them, too.”
The aromatherapeutic filters, called Respa filters, have been a huge hit. “People have been buying Respas in droves. I think it’s because the aromatherapy really does make such a huge difference. You can get plain PM2.5 filters anywhere, but these just have a way of making you feel human again. And in times of Covid, that’s a tall order,” says Suttle.
When asked if wildfire-smoke was part of the inspiration, Suttle says no. “Honestly, mask-wearing was just hard already before the smoke rolled in. That’s why we started MASQ in the first place — because we couldn’t find masks we actually liked wearing. They were either too hot, too scratchy, too sweaty, too small, too-all-the-things…. But we prefer to be fix-it-people rather than gripers. So we started designing and making our own versions.”
“And then we decided we wanted to tackle other mask-problems, like glasses-fog. And having to smell coffee breath eternally. We’re still working on the fog-issue, but…” Suttle’s eyebrows raise. “We knocked the second issue out of the park.”
Smoke, however, was not something they anticipated solving for. “When the smoke started consuming the West Coast, we hadn’t launched our store yet. We were still tweaking designs and products, but once the smoke hit, the asthma was REAL, and cloth masks just weren’t cutting it.” Knowing that the PM2.5 filters had been invented to address air-quality problems just such as these gave Suttle an idea: “We realized we could help out neighbors and coworkers before we were officially up and running. We were giving away Respa inserts left and right because they worked, we had them available, and we just wanted everyone to be safe. But one problem we ran into was that not everyone’s mask had pockets for filters. So we expanded the line to include adhesive options. This way, anyone can use a Respa, filter-pocket or not.”
Like many West Coasters in this two-front-crisis, Emery and Suttle both note that they wish more people were aware of simple, widely available solutions like PM2.5. “Not everyone knows that PM2.5s can be used [to protect against] wildfire smoke [inhalation],” Emery notes. “In Asia, PM2.5 material was originally invented in response to air pollution, so it’s common knowledge over there to use them when air quality is bad. But here, Americans still mostly associate them with Covid-only.”
So what is a PM2.5 filter?
Broadly, PM2.5 fabric is shorthand for any kind of filtration material that filters out particulate matter down to 2.5 micrometers in size. Made of a polyethelyne meltblown fiber, it uses static electricity to repel nano-particulates like smoke, sneeze droplets, dust, chemical emissions and pollutants which are too small for the human eye to see.
Initially developed as a means of combatting respiratory damage caused by chemical and industrial pollution in Asia, where air quality levels routinely compete for worst in the world, PM2.5 applications have expanded beyond the factory to everyday-use. Certified PM2.5 filters, like the ones used by MASQ, are specifically designed for use in face masks. Typically shaped like a convex-rectangle, PM2.5 filters have 5 layers —
- Two (2) exterior layers of spun-bond fiber, used to provide structure to the filter and serve as a mechanical particulate barrier.
- Two (2) interior layers of meltblown polyethelyne fiber. Meltblown, a manufacturing process that creates the electrostatic barrier necesssary for repelling nanoparticulates, is required for all certified PM2.5 filters.
- One (1) middle layer of activated charcoal, which absorbs stray particulates while providing moisture- and odor-control.
Although not as effective as N95 masks, PM2.5s are easier to mass-produce and easier for the average person to use — a crucial boon to both an overtaxed supply chain and the non-medical American public. The simple structure makes it compatible with a wide variety of mask styles, an essential feature for today’s agglomeration of mask options. They’re more breathable than N95s, but composed of the same meltblown material. Each insert adds 5 additional layers of filtration to each cloth mask, and its electrostatic properties make PM2.5 filters far more effective than standard fabrics used alone.
Fire seasons have been starting earlier, ending later, and burning more territory than previously recorded. This year’s fire season is not yet over, and though 2020 has been an exception to many rules, it does not appear to be breaking this one (other than to outdo itself in a blaze of glory, of course). No one knows yet how long COVID-19 will plague us, or what mask-wearing will look like in years to come. But forecasts for both fire-seasons and novel viruses have already spurred manufacturers to pivot by innovating products and future-proofing supply chains to ensure resources are available for future crises caused by both.
In the meantime, however, we citizens-of-the-2020-Twilight-Zone must work with what we’ve got — box fans and HVAC filters, aromatherapy and PM2.5s, common sense, community, and the courage to carry on.
