What Is The Material Of Ordinary Masks

The old-fashioned gauze mask is made by stacking the gauze layer by layer, and is relatively thick. The current masks are made relatively thin. After the outbreak, masks are in short supply everywhere, so do you know what material the ordinary masks we usually wear? Our ordinary masks are made of non-woven fabrics.

We know that no matter what material is used or what weaving method is used, as long as weaving cloth, we need fiber. The most common thing in life is that cotton fibers are spun into threads, which can be made into cotton cloth as we know it after weaving. The same is true for non-woven fabrics, but the fibers used in non-woven fabrics are not grown in nature, but synthetic fibers. In today's era, artificial synthetic fibers have also been integrated into all aspects of our lives. For example, nylon, spandex, polypropylene fibers, etc., are all synthetic fibers. All kinds of clothes and shoes we usually wear have the shadow of these fibers.

The non-woven fabric is made of the same material as the mineral water bottle, which is PP plastic rice, which is polypropylene. First, the plastic rice is melted, and then the plastic rice is blown into extremely fine fibers through high-speed hot air. At high temperatures, these fibers will randomly bond together so that they can be made into non-woven fabrics. But not all non-woven fabrics can be used as masks. Because the mask needs to have a filtering function, the non-woven fabric cannot be too thick, the fiber is too dense, and it is not breathable; it cannot be too thin, and the fiber is too sparse. In both cases, the air cannot be filtered. Therefore, the non-woven fabric of the mask has to meet several indicators.

The first is that the quality per unit area of the non-woven fabric needs to meet certain standards. This indicator can reflect the compactness and thickness of the non-woven fabric. The fibers of the non-woven fabric used in masks can be as small as 0.25 microns. By randomly bonding layers of fibers together, a labyrinth-like channel is formed. The non-woven fabric has basic filtering performance by relying on these labyrinth-like channels. But this is not enough, because the droplets produced by sneezing, coughing, or talking are between 0.5 and 12 microns in diameter, and the bacteria and viruses are so small. Although the natural properties of non-woven fabrics can filter out a lot, we still need to make the non-woven fabrics electrostatic, so that the electrostatic effect can further filter out more pollution sources. Through the two methods of randomly generated maze-like channels and electrostatic effect, the ordinary masks we now use can filter 95% of pollution sources.

The second is air resistance. The non-woven fabric used in masks must also reach the air resistance index of the medical protection level. Because if the air resistance is too large, people will not be able to breathe normally after wearing a mask, and the mask will easily leak. If the air leak is too severe, it is not much different from not wearing a mask.

Therefore, a qualified mask needs to consider the efficiency of dust resistance, air tightness, and comfort. Generally, the level of dust blocking efficiency is tested based on its blocking efficiency for fine dust, especially for respirable dust below 2.5 microns. Because dust of this size can directly enter the alveoli, it has the greatest impact on human health. In fact, the previous gauze masks have no filtering ability for some fine dust, especially dust less than 2.5 microns. The principle of dust blocking is mechanical filtration. When dust hits the gauze, it passes through layers of barriers, blocking some large particles of dust in the gauze.

As for air tightness, in addition to the above-mentioned selection of non-woven fabrics with more suitable air resistance, it is also necessary to ensure that the contact part of the mask and the face does not leak as much as possible. Air is like water flow, where the resistance is small, it flows first. When the shape of the mask is not close to the human face, dangerous substances in the air will leak in from the non-closed place and enter the human respiratory tract. So, even if you choose a mask with the best filter material, you cannot guarantee safety.

Another very important process is disinfection. In the production process of raw materials, non-woven fabrics cannot be guaranteed to be very clean, so masks need to be disinfected with ethylene oxide before going out. Unfortunately, ethylene oxide is harmful to the human body. Therefore, the newly produced masks still cannot be directly put on the market for people to use. Also, find a clean place to let the newly produced masks stand for a period of time, and wait until the concentration of ethylene oxide gradually reaches the residue standard before they can be used normally.