ONE of Spain's leading consumer organisations has tested disposable masks on sale in key supermarkets nationwide and concluded which are the best – although they all offer exceptionally-high protection.
With a shortage of masks tested and approved according to European Union standards anywhere in the continent – given that this part of the world had very little time to prepare for the Coronavirus pandemic – health authorities have had to allow masks certified in China to enter the market, at least as a temporary measure.
This means their sales are not under such tight regulations, leading to lower prices and competition.
The vast majority are what are known as 'hygiene masks' – of the type used by people with, for example, a cold or 'flu when they are around the elderly, newborns or the immune-compromised, or in general by adults and children undergoing chemotherapy to prevent contagion or infection.
Hygiene masks are cheaper than surgical masks, which offer maximum protection and are more likely to be of the reusable type, typically FFP2 or above – as opposed to reusable masks sold in DIY shops, which are normally FFP1, a lower, but also very efficient level of, protection.
The OCU has examined the cheapest single-use masks on sale in Spanish supermarkets to check how effective they are at filtering out particles, and their general quality – eight types in total – plus three types of reusable masks.
With prices relatively similar across the board – averaging 60 cents per mask for single-use varieties, said to offer protection for up to four hours – practically all disposable ones tested offered a very high level of defence, filtering out over 95% of particles.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com