As you may know, healthcare institutions have received many masks and respirators that claim to be equivalent to N-95s or other standards, but sadly some do not meet those standards, some are manufactured to non-U.S. standards, and some are outright counterfeits. Yale EHS assesses these procured and donated masks for equivalency, usability, and the ability to pass an ambient aerosol (quantitative) fit test protocol.
In normal times, non-standard masks would be sent to national laboratories, but their testing capabilities are slow and backlogged. To augment EHS’ assessment our amazing Yale colleagues at Yale’s School of Engineering & Applied Science/Center for Engineering Innovation and Design have devised methods to performance-test the filtering material for efficiently/flow-impedance. For more information, click on these links:
A Yale SEAS News story details this work.
The site includes a detailed video for others to learn/improve on/duplicate this needed resource.
Yale engineers expect to continue their development by: “defining the ‘system of systems’ to use this experimental test site, improving the apparatus based on input from colleagues, and revising the test process to ensure the most accurate data is measured/easily-reported. The apparatus does NOT duplicate NIOSH testing but rather provides valuable information on particle efficiency and flow impedance, with the actual apparatus modeled after the NIOSH standard using the equipment we had in SEAS research/teaching labs. Again, we can/will improve this work, but we are at a great starting point to use this system and share it with others.”
I can forward any questions you may have to them.
Pete
Peter A. Reinhardt (he/him/his)
Director, Office of Environmental Health & Safety
Yale University
135 College St., Suite 100
New Haven, CT 06510-2411
(203) 737-2123
Cell: (209) 410-0444
peter.reinhardt@yale.edu
