Is it safe to wear respiratory masks with a beard? Take good note of our advice

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No matter what style of facial hair you sport, in our humble opinion, all beards are beautiful. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) disagree.

We all know that not all facial hair is the same and that each person wears it differently. That's made abundantly clear in a CDC infographic on the best facial hair styles for wearing N95-type respirator masks, which are meant to help protect us from airborne particles. As a consequence of the viral outbreak of COVID-19 (the already famous Coronavirus) that began earlier this year in Wuhan, China, the image has swept Twitter this week.

After seeing this infographic, it stands to reason that this master guide to 36 facial hair styles implies that the CDC knows more about beards than barbers do. But the truth is that after studying it carefully, we believe that some of its advice is a bit contradictory.

A face with a three-day beard, for example, gets a big red X from the CDC. Apparently, that type of beard alters the protection of the mask. The question that arises, logically, is whether such a beard is not better than a thick mustache... Well, it turns out that according to the infographic, it is not.

Unsurprisingly, all those good folks on Twitter have decided to make fun of masks instead of heeding the CDC's advice. As if that were not enough, tweeters point out that the infographic only applies to men, leading some to claim that the graphic is clearly discriminatory against people who identify as non-binary.

Popular Mechanics has reached out to the CDC for comment on this controversy, and will update this story as soon as we hear from the government agency.

a hairy problem

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According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an N95 mask blocks at least 95 percent of airborne particles down to 0.3 microns (one micron equals one millionth of a meter). This means that if we use it correctly, all those gases, vapors and other particles present in the air that we want to avoid with its use will be effectively stopped by the filter and will prevent them from entering our bodies.

So what is the problem with the beard? Doesn't it actually act as another barrier?

Not quite. While human hair "appears to be very fine to the naked eye," according to the CDC, it is actually much larger than the particles we want to avoid inhaling. N95 masks protect from airborne particles down to 0.3 microns, but hair thickness ranges from 1/1500th to 1/500th of an inch in diameter (one inch equals 25.4mm). So if we assume that each of your beard hairs is .002 inches in diameter, that translates to 50.8 microns. That will create an entrance big enough for the dreaded COVID-19 to sneak in.

"Thus, the vast majority of particles, gases, and vapors follow the airstream through facial hair and into the wearer's respiratory tract," according to the CDC publication. "In fact, some studies have shown that even a day or two of stubble can reduce protection."

In short, according to the CDC, any presence of facial hair that gets in the way of the seal provided by the mask can cause a loss of effectiveness of between 20 to 1,000 times compared to a user who wears the mask shaved.

the perfect cut

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The infographic on facial hair dates back to a CDC blog post from November 2017, on the occasion of a series of recommendations for hairy workers by the #NoShaveNovember movement, aimed at getting them to understand the ins and outs of putting on a mask in dangerous environments.

"Ensuring that the respirator seals is a vital part of respiratory protection practices. Facial hair found along the sealing area of ​​a mask, such as beards, sideburns or a few mustaches, will interfere with respirators that are based in a pressure seal to achieve maximum protection," said that publication. "Facial hair is a common reason a person may lose levels of protection."

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

But here's the thing: Construction workers are subject to yearly fit tests to ensure the seals on their masks are correct and they know how to use them. Civilians, on the other hand, like the thousands of people in Europe and Asia currently dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, do not receive the same training.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the United States Department of Labor, in addition, maintains that facial hair will not be your only problem to put on the mask correctly.

"If the respirator seal leaks, contaminated air will be drawn into the respirator and could be inhaled," OSHA writes on its website. "Therefore, anything that interferes with the facepiece seal is not permitted when wearing this type of respirator. This could include facial hair, earrings, headscarves, wigs, and facial piercings."

Fortunately, the CDC has some guidance on how to conduct your own sealing check, which is especially important if you like to wear some type of facial hair, as even some of the approved styles can vary from person to person and get in the way of the sealing.

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💡 Check the perfect sealing of your mask. There are two types of tests you can perform: a positive or negative pressure check.

During a positive pressure seal check, you should gently exhale while blocking the passageways so that exhaled breath leaves the mask. If the fit is correct, the mask will be slightly pressurized before the increased pressure causes it to leak out.

Instead, during a negative pressure seal check, you should inhale sharply while blocking the pathways for inhaled breath to enter the mask. If the test is successful, your mask will collapse slightly under the negative pressure that is created.

The CDC recommends that you do these checks every time you put on a mask.

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Voucher. And what if you have a very thick beard and simply putting on a mask is something that does not work? Well, all we can tell you is that maybe the time has come to get that goatee you've been thinking of giving up since 1995. You have our full support, my friend.

Via: Popular Mechanics

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