Face masks have become an essential item in households nationwide and the quality ranges from N95 masks certified for use in healthcare to simple bandanas and masks made from cut-up t-shirts.
But aerosol experts say that even a simple homemade face mask can significantly reduce your risk of infection.
“If we take for example a neck gaiter and fold it over, we have two layers of it, it actually blocks over 90 percent of the particles that are of the size we think are important for transmission,” explained Dr. Linsey Marr, an expert in airborne disease transmission and professor at Virginia Tech who has been studying various face coverings in her lab. “Even a t-shirt mask, just one layer, it blocks about half.”
While 50 percent protection may not sound like enough, the level of protection increases if everyone around you is also wearing a mask.
Dr. Kim Prather, aerosols expert and distinguished professor at the UC San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography, explains that if two people are in contact with one another and each is wearing a mask that is 50 percent effective, the protection to each person increases to 75 percent.
“That’s significant,” she said. “And that could be enough to drop you down to a level where you don’t get sick.”
Dr. Prather and Dr. Marr are part of a team of experts that put together a comprehensive list of precautions that can reduce the risk of aerosol spread.
One key factor in a mask’s efficiency that they say is often overlooked is fit. Gaps between the mask and your face can allow droplets and aerosols to spread unimpeded.
“You want to make sure that it fits to your face and that you can actually feel it pulse in and out when you breathe,” Dr. Prather explained. “That means the air is passing through the fabric.”