20.500.12556/DiRROS-21563 Bacterial filtration efficiency of different masks Določanje učinkovitosti bakterijske filtracije različnih tipov mask Face coverings, such as surgical masks and respirators, have an important role in preventing bacterial and viral transmission, especially during a global pandemic like COVID-19. Therefore, to secure their availability, new manufacturers and the use of novel materials must be encouraged. However, masks and their materials must first be properly tested for safety and efficiency, as required by the relevant standard, valid in a specific region. All standards prescribe determination of the bacterial filtration efficiency (BFE) of masks. In this study, we report the establishment of a test method for the BFE of face masks in accordance with European standard EN 14683:2019, by which we tested 52 samples, each composed of 3 to 5 subsamples, of surgical and cloth masks, respirators, filters, and mask materials. Forty-seven out of the 52 samples reached a BFE above 75 %. Of these, 16 samples had a BFE of 75 % to 95 %, 3 had a BFE of 95 % to 98 %, while 28 reached a filtration efficiency above 98 %. Our findings show that all tested samples provided some level of protection, most of which met the requirements for the national or European market. bacterial filtration efficiency face coverings masks respirators Andersen Cascade Impactor EN 14683:2019 učinkovitost bakterijske filtracije zaščitne maske EN 14683 šest stopenjski Andersenov vzročevalnik true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Neznano 2025-02-26 13:46:23 2025-02-26 13:46:23 2025-02-27 03:39:03 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2022 0 0 str. 225-232 no. 4, spec. iss.: SARS-Cov-2 Vol. 68 Apr. 2022 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2022-03-24 579 0039-2480 10.5545/sv-jme.2022.34 105952259 https://www.sv-jme.eu/article/bacterial-filtration-efficiency-of-different-masks/ 1 b17fb76b-f43f-11ef-9f1e-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=30848 RAZ_Kosir_Tamara_2022.pdf RAZ_Kosir_Tamara_2022.pdf 1 B75848E77BC69A624B23A5DD36224041 d4ee0a87edd937b0fe4c3847ad072cda6f88743adfb5931f01972b5ae4f5658a dc763cb4-f43f-11ef-9f1e-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=30849 https://doi.org/10.5545/sv-jme.2022.34 0 e72bbf92-f43f-11ef-9f1e-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=30850 Nacionalni inštitut za biologijo 0 0 0