Facing the outbreak of the new coronavirus, all kinds of face masks were sold out in the blink of an eye. More and more people seem to start to realize the importance of face masks.  But, do face masks really work? and how they work?

The answer largely depends on what type of face mask you are wearing.

Classification of Face Masks

According to the design of the face masks, the general ranking of the protective ability is (high to low): N95 masks> surgical masks> ordinary medical masks> ordinary cotton masks. But in the case of the new coronavirus, the most effective type of face masks are medical-surgical masks and masks filtering 95% or more of non-oily particles, such as N95, KN95, DS2, FFP2, etc. At present, China’s medical face masks are mainly divided into three types: medical protective masks with the highest protection level, medical-surgical masks commonly used in invasive operating environments such as operating rooms, and ordinary disposable medical masks.

How Face Masks Work?

Usually, medical face masks are made of non-woven fabrics, and its raw materials are mainly Polypropylene. And polypropylene layers are arranged to form an SMS structure.

source: https://www.staysafemedicalclothing.com

SMS structure makes face masks capable to block floating particles while allowing airflow in and out the face masks. In this structure, the key material that brings the virus filtering effect is a high density, electrostatic layer lies in the middle: melt-blown non-woven fabric. When small particles like viruses get close to the melt-blown nonwoven fabric, it will be immediately captured by the electrostatic field and adsorbed on the surface of the non-woven fabric, and therefore prevent the virus gets into the body.