Covering N95 respirator with face mask can increase risk of leakage
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Covering N95 filtering facepiece respirators with a face mask can cause respirator leaking and failure, according to a study among health care workers.
“Our overall interest in the topic was triggered by the lack of evidence or any other rigorous support behind recommendations to cover N95 respirators with face masks, and also that those recommendations included little or no education on the potential risks of such a practice,” Jeffrey T. Mueller MD, assistant professor of anesthesiology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, told Healio.
“This experimental study was specifically prompted by our team’s previous work on the theoretical basis of N95 leakage,” Mueller said.
To assess if covering N95 filtering facepiece respirators (FRRs) with a procedural mask could lead to mask failure, researchers performed fit tests on health care workers at the Mayo Clinic.
Initially, the health care workers took a fit test using their standard N95 FFR masks, during which the mask was connected to an Accufit Pro 9000 device while employees followed standardized instructions such as breathing normally, moving their head from side to side, talking, deep breathing, and moving their head up and down.
Results were processed by the device, and those who received a passing result immediately repeated the test with a Halyard 47117 procedural mask worn over the same N95 FFR to determine the failure rate.
In total, 100 participants successfully completed quantitative fit testing wearing a 3M1870þ N95 FFR.
Among them, 13 study participants then failed quantitative fit testing when a Halyard 47117 procedural mask was worn over the N95 FF (95% CI, 7%-22%).
“Consider the risk of increased N95 respirator leakage before covering an N95 with a face mask. The real solution to the problem is to secure an adequate supply of N95 respirators in order to avoid excessively long extended use and to avoid any reuse of them,” Mueller said.
In a separate study, researchers found that health care workers can safely reuse N95 masks if they decontaminate them with hydrogen peroxide.
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