ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021
Testing Surgical Face Masks in an Emergency Context: The Experience of Italian Laboratories during the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis.
Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Assessing the behavior of food handlers wearing face masks and the passage of bacteria through disposable masks.Brazilian journal of microbiology : [publication of the Brazilian Society for Microbiology] · 2025Article
- Unraveling the impact of operational parameters and environmental conditions on the quality of viable bacterial aerosols.PNAS nexus · 2024Article
- Staphylococcus epidermidis is a safer surrogate of Staphylococcus aureus in testing bacterial filtration efficiency of face masks.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Determining the filtration effectiveness of non-standard respiratory protective devices by an ad-hoc laboratory methodology.Atmospheric environment (Oxford, England : 1994) · 2023Article
- Hijab or Niqab Interacts with Facemasks Usage at Healthcare Settings in Kabul, Afghanistan: A Multi-Center Observational Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- One year of surgical mask testing at the University of Bologna labs: Lessons learned from data analysis.Separation and purification technology · 2022Article
- A Simple Method to Quantify Outward Leakage of Medical Face Masks and Barrier Face Coverings: Implication for the Overall Filtration Efficiency.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- An Experimental Analysis of Five Household Equipment-Based Methods for Decontamination and Reuse of Surgical Masks.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Assessing Biocompatibility of Face Mask Materials during COVID-19 Pandemic by a Rapid Multi-Assays Strategy.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
43 authors at 7 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic brought about a broader use of masks by both professionals and the general population. This resulted in a severe worldwide shortage of devices and the need to increase import and activate production of safe and effective surgical masks at the national level. In order to support the demand for testing surgical masks in the Italian context, Universities provided their contribution by setting up laboratories for testing mask performance before releasing products into the national market. This paper reports the effort of seven Italian university laboratories who set up facilities for testing face masks during the emergency period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Measurement set-ups were built, adapting the methods specified in the EN 14683:2019+AC. Data on differential pressure (DP) and bacterial filtration efficiency (BFE) of 120 masks, including different materials and designs, were collected over three months. More than 60% of the masks satisfied requirements for DP and BFE set by the standard. Masks made of nonwoven polypropylene with at least three layers (spunbonded-meltblown-spunbonded) showed the best results, ensuring both good breathability and high filtration efficiency. The majority of the masks created with alternative materials and designs did not comply with both standard requirements, resulting in suitability only as community masks. The effective partnering between universities and industries to meet a public need in an emergency context represented a fruitful example of the so-called university "third-mission".
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