{"id":23549,"date":"2024-02-29T18:31:22","date_gmt":"2024-02-29T10:31:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/?p=23549"},"modified":"2024-02-29T18:31:24","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T10:31:24","slug":"can-masks-filter-out-asbestos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/blog\/can-masks-filter-out-asbestos\/","title":{"rendered":"Can N95 Masks Filter Out Asbestos?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We previously discussed how HEPA filters remove asbestos from the air extremely well. But asbestos causes cancer, so I wouldn\u2019t rely on just a purifier while in the room. I\u2019d want to wear a mask.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Can
Me with my N95 on the streets of India<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

How Big Are Asbestos Particles?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Asbestos particles\u00a0range from 0.7 to 90 microns.<\/a> To put this size in perspective, below is the size of a 2.5-micron particle relative to a human hair.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Asbestos<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Yes, asbestos particles are super tiny! But do masks actually capture particles that small?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is Asbestos Mask Effective At Filtering Asbestos?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This study from the University of Massachusetts<\/a> tested what percentage of particles of different sizes masks can capture. Here\u2019s what they found:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Masks<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The closest size to 0.7 microns here is 500 nm and 1 um. (More\u00a0mask test data down to .007 microns here<\/a>.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does N95 Protect Against Asbestos?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The standard N95 mask on the left captured over 90% of both of these particle sizes. Thus, a good mask should protect you from a high percentage of asbestos particles (although I\u2019d use an N99, which captures a higher percentage of particles).<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Since asbestos is so dangerous, I’d suggest pairing a mask with a HEPA filter<\/a>, which captures over 99% of asbestos particles on one pass of the filter. I started Smart Air as a not-for-profit social enterprise to provide affordable HEPA filter purifiers<\/a> at an honest price. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check them out here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n
Bottom Line<\/div>
Bottom Line<\/div>
An N95 mask should filter well over 90% of asbestos particles. HEPA air filters <\/a> capture over 99% of asbestos particles. <\/div>
Smart Air<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We previously discussed how HEPA filters remove asbestos from the air extremely well. But asbestos causes cancer, so I wouldn\u2019t rely on just a purifier while in the room. I\u2019d want to wear a mask. How Big Are Asbestos Particles? Asbestos particles\u00a0range from 0.7 to 90 microns. To put this … <\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1035,"featured_media":29532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"7830,10649,10248,9714,4928,9858","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,187],"tags":[188,854],"class_list":["post-23549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air-pollution","category-masks","tag-asbestos","tag-masks","resize-featured-image"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1035"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23549"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29561,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23549\/revisions\/29561"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}