Consumer masks: what is it and where to find them?

Morgane Garnier Journalist published Le Validation Medical: June 04, 2020DR Idris Amrouchephantan, doctor of in progress (anesthesia-resuscitation)

During his speech on April 13, Emmanuel Macron announced that all French people can obtain a general public mask from May 11, date of the start of the deconfine.What is it exactly?How does it work and where to get it?All answers.

1. What is a general public mask, what is it?
2. What is it protecting?
3. Rules of use
4. Washing and ironing
5. Washing: Are there effective alternatives to the washing machine?
6. Where to find it?
7. How to get it ?

Dans un communiqué paru le 5 avril¹, l’Académie nationale de médecine expliquait souhaiter que “la sortie de confinement soit accompagnée du port obligatoire d’un masque grand public anti-projection, fût-il de fabrication artisanale, dans l’espace public”.A few days later, the President of the Republic announced that from May 11, """"""""in connection with the mayors, the State will have to allow each French to obtain a general public mask"""""""".

What is a general public mask, what is it?

There are different types of masks: FFP masks (1, 2 and 3) and surgical masks.On its portal dedicated to the coronavirus, the government explains that due to """"""""current supply difficulties"""""""", these masks are reserved for caregivers and cannot be distributed to the population.Nevertheless, since May 11, everyone will be able to benefit from a mask: these consumer masks are made of fabric, washable and reusable, and guarantee “an interesting level of efficiency” against the coronavirus, said the Minister of Health OlivierVéran on April 19.

For the general population, hundreds of converted textile companies have launched the production of """"""""consumer masks"""""""" or """"""""barriers' masks"""""""", mainly in fabric, which are arriving in pharmacies and will soon be available in mass distribution.These masks, which are in particular compulsory in public transport or colleges since deconfination, respond to recommendations from the Medicines Agency (ANSM) and other experts, gathered in the reference guide to the normalization associationAFNOR.In """"""""duck beak"""""""" or """"""""folds"""""""", they must filter at least 70% of the particles of 3 microns emitted by the carrier, while allowing sufficient """"""""breathability"""""""".

To receive approval, issued by the Directorate General of Armament and the French Institute for Textiles and Clothing, they must be subject to a test protocol to guarantee their level of protection.But the AFNOR Guide, which has been offering a children's model since Tuesday from 7 Tuesday, is also available in video tutorials by many websites, for all French people encouraged by the government to seam.

For masks defenders, any model is always better than nothing.But Afnor calls for being """"""""vigilant"""""""" for masks with vertical seams, along the nose, mouth and chin """""""", which include a risk of leakage by this seam.The association also recommends the use of at least two or three layers of one or more flexible fabrics, to avoid too hot or irritating tissues, and not to add materials such as vacuum bags or coffee filters.

What is it protecting?

Les masques chirurgicaux protègent l’environnement du porteur, c’est-à-dire les autres et non soi-même : ils “ont la capacité de prévenir la projection des grosses gouttelettes sur les muqueuses buccale et nasale et sont utilisés dans le cadre des précautions dites ‘gouttelettes’”, expliquent des médecins des hôpitaux Bichat et Cochin².

The FFP2 masks protect the carrier: they """"""""assure, thanks to their support to the face, the additional role of preventing the inhalation of small droplets in the context of so -called"""""""" aerial """"""""precautions"""""""" """""""".

Olivier Véran indicated on April 21 that """"""""the overwhelming majority"""""""" of the consumer masks, """"""""mostly produced in France"""""""", """"""""will meet 90% filtration criteria.These masks have the interest of being protective, where other masks [...] do not offer protection guarantee because they do not filter particles small enough to prevent the virus from penetrating or leaving.""""""""They should therefore have"""""""" almost the same filtration quality as a mask intended for caregivers """""""".

In a report published on May 5, Public Health France explains that """"""""the epidemiological efficiency of alternative masks is not acquired but, subject to fulfilling certain manufacturing and material conditions used to combine filtration capacity andSufficient breathability, their use could help reduce transmission in the population """""""".The agency believes that """"""""manufacturing, use and maintenance instructions, as well as information on the precautions to be taken (in particular limits of the use of masks in children), should be developed and promoted"""""""".

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Covid mask: how to put a mask?

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All about masks against flu

A vast study funded by the World Health Organization (WHO) and published on June 1 in The Lancet confirms the efficiency of the mask.After having analyzed 172 scientific work from 16 different countries, researchers were able to assess the risk of transmitting the coronavirus with and without mask.Result, this risk is evaluated at 17.4 % if a sick person carries this type of protection, and only 3.1 % if the patient wears a.The authors have noticed that """"""""the use of facial masks could lead to a significant reduction in the risk of infection with stronger associations with the N95 model or similar respirators compared to disposable or similar surgical masks"""""""", we can read inthe document.In addition, they confirmed that """"""""the transmission of viruses was lower with a physical distance of 1 m or more"""""""".

Rules of use

Mask should not be carried to the under three, due to the risk of suffocation.The government prohibits it in kindergarten.For older children and adults, the mask does not exempt barrier gestures and social distancing.Public Health France says in this sense that """"""""the use of masks could lead to a feeling of false safety and therefore of relaxation of barriers and distancing"""""""" measures """""""".

And you must also learn to use them adequately, so as not to risk contaminating by touching the front, potentially defiled by postilions.

Before putting it, you have to wash your hands (water and soap, or hydroalcoholic gel), then apply the mask to the face, covering the nose and mouth, and finally put in place the bridles or the elastic bands.

AFNOR recommends bare skin, wearing beard that can """"""""reduce filtration efficiency"""""""".

To remove it, hand wash too, before and after.It must be removed by the ties, especially without touching the potentially contaminated front.

More delicate, throughout the duration of use, the reflex must be suppressed to touch it, under penalty of having to turn your hands to turn out, each time.You should not let him hang around his neck like a scarf.

Even for fabric masks, the maximum recommended duration of use is 4 hours.

For a person spending the day outside, AFNOR therefore suggests leaving with three masks, one for the morning, one for the afternoon and one help.

The association notes, however, that the mask can be used several times with a cumulative duration of 4 hours, if it is removed and given by respecting the instructions, and stored or hung with as little contact as possible to avoid contamination.

Washing and ironing

Whatever the model, the ANSM recommends machine washing at least 30 minutes at 60 ° C, followed by drying in dryer or open air, then ironing at a temperature adapted to the fabric(120/130 °).Be careful, if you are used to washing your clothes at 30 ° or 40 °, this is not enough to inactivate a virus.If a used mask slips into your washing machine by mistake and you launch a cycle less than 60 °, it is necessary to disinfect the machine by making a vacuum washing.

The soiled masks (which can be stored in a closed container to avoid washing them one by one) can be washed with other textiles such as towels or sheets that support a cycle at 60 ° C, note AFNOR.

Even washable, the fabric mask cannot be used indefinitely.Industrial versions must be able to spend 5 washes, but some can withstand 20 or 30 washes.Hand -sewn masks are a priori less resistant.

In any case, at the slightest sign of wear, it must be thrown away.Preferably by placing it in a double packaging, advocates AFNOR.

Washing: Are there effective alternatives to the washing machine?

Rotating a machine at 60 ° after each use may seem binding.Many techniques have turned on social networks, tutorial in support, offering a disinfection of the mask without going through a cycle at 60 °.But what about these methods?Are they really effective?

To get rid of the virus, the microwave or the freezer are not recommended.Indeed, the first causes risk of domestic accident, many masks containing in particular a metal reinforcement.For the second, the technique would be counterproductive, the virus being resistant to the cold.""""""""Freezing is even the way they are preserved by scientists to be studied,"""""""" warns Bruno Grandbastien, president of the French Hospital Hygiene Society (SF2H), interviewed by LCI.

Regarding the traditional oven, if laboratory tests have shown that a passage to 70 ° for 30 minutes was effective, it is necessary to be careful in your home because our ovens are not the same and the risks of domestic accidents remain.In addition, this technique requires time and consume energy.

Boil the mask in the water may degrade it because for this to be effective the fabric must remain a long time in 90 ° water, but only some (like thick cotton) can resist such conditions.

As for the hair dryer, it can only help finish drying, after washing, avoiding too high a temperature which would degrade the fabric, according to AFNO.

What about bleach or hydroalcoholic gel disinfections?Again, the experts advise against it.Indeed, these solutions are not adapted to the disinfection of a fabric and alter the filter capacity of the latter.In addition, they include risks of irritation when the product present on the mask is inhaled.

Finally, a method put forward by many Internet users consists in hanging its mask above a pot of boiling water.According to Sylvie Raspaud, head of the pharmacy service at the Kremlin-Bicêtre Hospital (Val-de-Marne), interviewed by AFP, it's a very bad idea.""""""""The steam does not wash, on the contrary it fixes the residues on the surfaces,"""""""" she said.Also interviewed by the press agency, Philippe Cinquin, professor of public health at the Grenoble University Hospital and director of the TIMC laboratory adds that it is """"""""difficult to control the temperature and the level of humidity to which the mask is exposed"""""""", or, these two parameters are essential to sterilize an object.

Other errors are also to be avoided to clean your mask.

Where to find it?

In an interview with Echos on April 24, the Secretary of State to the Minister of Economy and Finance Agnès Pannier-Runacher said that “first experiments” for distributing consumer masks “will be done from 4may"""""""".In terms of distribution points, “The field of possibilities is very wide and we look at all the hypotheses: pharmacists, town halls, large distribution, tobacconists, AFNOR platform, e-commerce, etc..”She said.

We do not yet know if these masks will be free or paid.The president of the Ile-de-France region Valérie Pécresse, for example, wishes to distribute masks for travelers free of charge in public transport. Par ailleurs, un arrêté paru le 25 avril dans le Journal officiel³ autorise désormais les pharmacies à vendre des “masques non sanitaires fabriqués selon un processus industriel et répondant aux spécifications techniques applicables”.For its part, the Confederation of the tobacconists explains in a press release that """"""""the 24 network.000 tobacconists accompanies the gradual discontent to come by giving access to the population to protective masks """""""", at a price per unit of around 5 euros.

""""""""Production has reached more than 10 million masks last week and supply, by French production and imports, will increase rapidly,"""""""" said Agnès Pannier-Runacher.""""""""It will be more than 26 million masks for the general public, mostly reusable 20 times, which will be made available each week from the end of April,"""""""" she said during a telephone press conference relayed by theAFP.

Almost half of these fabric filter masks will be imported.The others will be produced in France, 242 companies in the textile industry are mobilized for their manufacture.A logo will indicate the number of possible washing.

Regarding the FFP2 and surgical health masks, intended for health professionals, France has passed """"""""to a weekly production of 10 million masks in April"""""""", as specified by Agnes Pannier-Runacher.Before the crisis, it was 3.5 million masks per week.

Soon a reusable mask endlessly?

The Michelin group (specializing in tires) is embarking on the production of masks.The goal: to create a powerful and reusable mask more than 100 times.""""""""The novelty compared to the disposable mask which will last a few hours and which then ends in the trash, is to have a 'mask' part which will serve endlessly and a 'filter' which will allow the filterAir """""""", Marc Desbois, industrial project manager at Michelin, interviewed by TF1. En effet, ce dispositif, appelé """"""""OCOV® """""""" est un masque """"""""de type FM (Face Mask) P1 ou P2"""""""" qui sera vendu avec """"""""cinq filtres lavables et interchangeables"""""""", comme le précise la société⁴.

""""""""The production capacity objective is one million masks per week in May, with an ambition of production exceeding five million by the end of June, the equivalent of 500 million current disposable masks"""""""", we canRead on Michelin's website.""""""""A pre -series of 5,000 units in this first version is today being manufactured.""""""""The consumer cost of this mask would amount to 28 euros.

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How to get it ?

Dans un communiqué paru le 27 avril⁵, l'association de patients et d'usagers du système de santé France Assos Santé a appelé de son côté les citoyens à ne pas attendre le 11 mai pour porter un masque dans l'espace public.""""""""The projection of any infected droplet can contaminate the one it reaches, she writes.We have lost too much time in particular because of the contradictory messages of the authorities on this subject.Now let's not lose it anymore and add the port of the mask to barriers' measures.Thus, let us remain confined, and when we go out, apply all the barriers and circul letters all together to ensure our collective protection.""""""""

Elle avait ainsi appelé la population à confectionner ses propres masques """"""""en tissu lavable et repassable.Many models circulate including that of Afnor, a French normalization association."""""""" Elle explique également vouloir """"""""que des masques soient mis en vente dans de nombreux points de vente à des prix raisonnables.The financial aspect should not be an obstacle to the acquisition of masks.Local authorities in the government, it is all the public authorities that must organize to make masks available to the population, including free of charge so that each and everyone can have them.""""""""

Since Monday, May 4, millions of masks have been available for sale in supermarkets such as Carrefour, Auchan, Aldi or Intermarché.Agnès Pannier-Runacher explained that the price per unit of surgical masks, for single use, will not be able to exceed 95 euro cents.That of textile masks is not yet framed. Le site du ministère de l'Economie⁶ indique que ces masques """"""""se prêtent mal à ce type de régulation.The latter can indeed respond to various specifications, especially in terms of number of washing and therefore reuses, a wide variety of fabrics used and a heterogeneity of their modes and therefore their manufacturing costs (French or foreign manufacturing,crafts or industry, consumer product or sewing creation).""""""""

But rapid availability and in large numbers of these masks unworthiness health professionals. """"""""Comment s’expliquer que nos soignants n’aient pas pu être dotés de masques quand on annonce à grand renfort de communication tapageuse des chiffres sidérants de masques vendus au public par certains circuits de distribution ?"""""""", écrivent dans une lettre⁷ sept ordres de professions de santé, dont l'Ordre des Médecins et l'Ordre des Pharmaciens.

Olivier Véran a répondu à la polémique en expliquant lors d'une interview accordée au Parisien que """"""""la grande distribution n'a pas véritablement de stocks et n'a fait qu'annoncer des commandes à venir, pour le moment"""""""".