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Date Published: 17/07/2020

ARCHIVED - Spanish consumers organisation says supermarket face masks offer very good filtration

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

These are the supermarkets with the most effective face masks, according to the OCU

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Spanish consumers organisation says supermarket face masks offer very good filtration

Image: Masks are part of the new normal for everyone; these workers in Totana council have to wear them all day at work, as do all public sector workers. Ayto-Totana.

Filtration capacity in the supermarket masks tested exceeds 95%, and in some models even rises to 98%

Masks have become the topic of obsession in Spain during recent weeks and now that it is obligatory to wear a mask in public, purchasing masks has become an additional expense for daily living, and they’re not cheap!

During the first lockdown phase of the pandemic we were all obliged to buy from pharmacies, often paying 4-5 euros for a single mask, but now masks are widely available in supermarkets (thank goodness!).

But are they any good?

A study published this week by the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU), says yes they are, and say that most supermarket single-use surgical and hygienic masks have very good filtration efficiencies, exceeding 95%, and some of them even exceed 98% filtration and yet don´t cost any more.

The organization has taken samples from models on sale in large supermarket chains in order to verify their real filtration efficiency and compare the general quality of the cheapest masks, both hygienic and surgical models.

The study concludes that almost all the single-use masks share a very good filtration efficiency (greater than 95%), are relatively comfortable, resistant and have a similar price, which is around 0.60 euros per unit.

Four of them even exceed 98% filtration, which are those marketed by Mercadona, Día, Lidl and Aldi.

The filtration efficiency is lower in the reusable masks analyzed, although they are around or exceed 70%, a figure that the OCU considers as being acceptable for this category according to the limits currently being discussed by the European standardization committee. After five washes with detergent at 60 ºC, the filtration efficiency varies between 68% and 86%, The mask currently being sold by Consum achieved the best results.

The OCU also made the point that for many families on low incomes, purchasing masks is an expensive additional outlay; some estimates have placed the financial burden on an average four member family as being around 100 euros a month for those attempting to comply with safety regulations and protect their families by correctly using the masks, and disposing of disposable masks after a single use.

The OCU believes that public administrations should supply free masks to at least the 10% of families that struggle to make ends meet.

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