Air Pollution (/blog/category/air-pollution/) Air Puriers (/blog/category/air-puriers/) Masks (/blog/category/masks/) Air Quality Monitors (/blog/category/air- quality-monitors/) N95 Masks vs. Surgical Masks: Which Is Better at Preventing The Coronavirus? 2020-03-01 (https://smartairlters.com/en/blog/n95-mask-surgical-prevent-transmission-coronavirus/) Thomas Talhelm (https://smartairlters.com/en/blog/author/thomas/) Coronavirus (https://smartairlters.com/en/blog/category/coronavirus/), Masks (https://smartairlters.com/en/blog/category/masks/) Scientists have actually randomized people to wear N95 or regular surgical masks, then tracked how many people got infected with colds and us similar to the coronavirus. This data can tell us whether N95 or surgical masks are more effective
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Air Pollution (/blog/category/air-pollution/) Air Puri�ers (/blog/category/air-puri�ers/)
Masks (/blog/category/masks/) Air Quality Monitors (/blog/category/air-
quality-monitors/)
N95 Masks vs. Surgical Masks: Which Is Better atPreventing The Coronavirus?
Thomas Talhelm (https://smartair�lters.com/en/blog/author/thomas/)Thomas is an Associate Professor of Behavior Science at the University of Chicago Booth
School of Business and the founder of Smart Air (https://smartair�lters.com/), a social enterpriseto help people in China breathe clean air without shelling out thousands of dollars forexpensive puri�ers.
appears that N95-rated �lters are actually incredibly effective for blocking this size of particle, and higher-
rated �lters (like those found in common FFP3 respirators for DIY use) are signi�cantly better again. Of
course, it’s all well and good to… Read more »
Join the clean air discussion...
Reply 2020-03-19 3:10 am
Reply 2020-03-18 2:38 am
Alice
Reply 2020-03-18 11:01 am
Liz - Smart Air
Reply 2020-03-17 5:02 am
Walt
Can Masks Protect People from The Coronavirus? (https://smartair�lters.com/en/blog/coronavirus-pollution-
masks-n95-surgical-mask/)
Can DIY Masks Protect Us from Coronavirus? (https://smartair�lters.com/en/blog/diy-homemade-mask-protect-
virus-coronavirus/)
Could the N95 masks and the surgical masks worked the same because the N95 masks were not �t
tested, or �t tested properly. If not air would not have gone through the �lter.
Hi Alice, good question! For N95 masks, you can do a �t test by yourself. We wrote anarticle on this topic before, here is the link: https://smartair�lters.com/en/blog/poor-mans-�t-test/ (https://smartair�lters.com/en/blog/poor-mans-�t-test/)
There is one more empirical test of the ef�ciency of masks. In Korea and in China, mask wearing is
(almost) mandatory, and both have stopped their epidemics dead it its tracks (within 10 days). Italy did
not require masks and they are not stopping the virus. As an experimental physicist, I believe a �eld test
more than any theory . If it works, use it and �nd out later why it works. It is ludicrous to say cannot work