Can wearing a mask really prevent smog?

When there is smog, we will find many people wearing masks when walking in the streets. Wearing masks can isolate them from the polluted particles in the air. There are all kinds of masks on the market. The styles, materials and prices of masks are different. Some are more expensive and some are cheaper. So, how effective are these masks in preventing haze? I believe this is a question that every friend is concerned about.

Can wearing a mask prevent smog?

The prices of common anti-smog masks on the market range from three or four yuan to thirty or forty yuan, and the materials include pure cotton, linen, activated carbon and other materials. Some masks claim to be able to filter up to 99% of PM2.5.

1. 3M Mask: 3M is worthy of being the industry benchmark. Its products perform very steadily, and its N95-level products can achieve 98% efficiency. This is just the test result of the filter material alone.

2. Micro-silver mask: The test result surprised the editor. The filtering effect of the mask with an air valve reached 99%. This can reflect two problems. One is that the filtering effect of the filter material itself is good, and the other is that the air tightness of the air valve is very good when inhaling.

3. For masks with sandwich filters, the filtering effect is poor because the air not only passes through the filter element, but also passes through the surrounding fabric, and the filtering effect only reaches 47%. (I'll have a chance to test his filter element for comparison)

4. The filtering effect of medical one-sided masks is average, with a filtering effect of 43%.

5. Cotton masks have almost no effect in filtering PM2.5, with a filtering efficiency of only 4%.

Do you understand the question of whether wearing a mask can prevent smog? This is related to the type of mask you choose. Masks made of different materials have different effects in preventing haze. Cotton masks are less effective in filtering PM2.5, while micro-silver masks are better at filtering air, but the prices will also be different.