Burying the lede..
ndr.de/ratgeber/gesundheit/cor…This proves that a suitable mask provides quite good protection – if the person opposite you is also wearing a mask, infection is virtually impossible.
Corona, Erkältungen und Co: Schützen Nasenspray und Mundspülung?
Coronaviren und andere Erreger gelangen über die Schleimhaut in Mund, Nase und Rachen in den Körper. Zusätzlich zu Impfung und Schutzmaßnahmen sollen deshalb Nasensprays und Mundspülungen schützen.Dagmar Lüdke-Bonnet (ndr.de)
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Scientists Just Connected the Dots Between Viruses and… Everything -- we need to rethink everything we thought we knew about getting sick.rachel.fast.ai/posts/2025-10-0…
Most people catch many viruses in their lives– for example, over 90% of adults have Epstein-Barr virus, and adults catch the flu about once every 5 years. For a long time, catching frequent viruses was considered both inevitable and harmless. But it turns out that common, seemingly-mild viruses have disturbing long-term health impacts.Common respiratory viruses increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Viruses are linked to dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. They can re-awaken cancer cells in patients whose cancer was previously in remission. Persistent infections accelerate aging and undermine longevity. Viruses can be the trigger that kicks off life-long autoimmune diseases. New studies come out each week confirming that viruses can harm the health of your heart, blood vessels, brain, nervous system, and gut.
Please pause and let this sink in. If we were to truly internalize this information, there would be massive shifts in the practice of medicine, scientific research, and public policy.
Rachel Thomas, PhD - Scientists Just Connected the Dots Between Viruses and… Everything
an AI researcher going back to school for immunologyrachel.fast.ai
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I’ve been the Virus Queen all my life, with apparently no long term effects until I was infected with covid 😢
I wish I’d know all this when I was younger, and that there were tools available to avoid viruses, and I would have done things very differently
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Retraction: Physio-metabolic and clinical consequences of wearing face masks—Systematic review with meta-analysis and comprehensive evaluation (May 24, 2023)frontiersin.org/journals/publi…
The journal retracts the 5 April 2023 article cited above.Following publication, concerns were raised regarding the scientific validity of the article. An investigation was conducted in accordance with Frontiers' policies. It was found that the complaints were valid and that the article does not meet the standards of editorial and scientific soundness for Frontiers in Public Health; therefore, the article has been retracted.
This retraction was approved by the Chief Editors of Frontiers in Public Health and the Chief Executive Editor of Frontiers. The authors did not agree to this retraction.
Retraction: Physio-metabolic and clinical consequences of wearing face masks—Systematic review with meta-analysis and comprehensive evaluation
Following publication, concerns were raised regarding the scientific validity of the article. An investigation was conducted in accordance with Frontiers’ po...Frontiers Editorial Office (Frontiers)
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Size distribution and viral RNA load of influenza virus-laden airborne particles emitted from pigs over the course of an H1N1 infection
nature.com/articles/s41598-025…In this study, we used pigs as a model for the airborne transmission of influenza A virus (IAV) and we quantified nasal shedding, viral RNA load of airborne particles emitted from pigs experimentally infected with a swine-origin H1N1 IAV, and characterized the size distribution of the virus-laden particles generated from infected pigs over the course of infection. We found that the peak of nasal shedding and airborne IAV-laden particles across multiple size ranges took place at 2 days post inoculation (DPI), with higher viral RNA load found in larger particles. The amount of airborne IAV emitted by infected pigs over the course of infection in particles > 8 μm was significantly higher than that in particles between 0.22 and 1.7 μm. These findings help understand the risk of airborne transmission of IAV in pigs and provide information to help control airborne infections more effectively.
Size distribution and viral RNA load of influenza virus-laden airborne particles emitted from pigs over the course of an H1N1 infection - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Size distribution and viral RNA load of influenza virus-laden airborne particles emitted from pigs over the course of an H1N1 infectionNature
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POLL OF THE DAY: Should people have to wear face masks in medical facilities, as Violet Affleck suggests?
295 dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1…
POLL OF THE DAY: Should people have to wear face masks in medical facilities, as Violet Affleck suggests?
Violet Affleck, the daughter of Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck, has now advocated for the return of mask mandates to help protect the vulnerable, during a speech at a UN event in New York.Daily (Daily Mail)
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🔗 There’s Something in the Air stevebheadteacher.wordpress.co…
Imagine every school in the country was found to have Legionella in its water supply.Imagine that the bacteria in the water was making pupils and staff ill….in every single school….every single day.
Imagine that children and adults in every school were routinely developing a cough, high temperature, shortness of breath, chest pain, and other flu-like symptoms.
...
There’s Something in the Air
Imagine every school in the country was found to have Legionella in its water supply. Imagine that the bacteria in the water was making pupils and staff ill….in every single school….eve…Life Through a Different Lens
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gup.pe groups are officially dead: github.com/immers-space/guppe/…
We already have @maskup @pandemicene @askazero @thezeroes, but if there are any other covid-related ones you'd like created, please PM me
Guppe is dead?
Hey @wmurphyrd 👋 I notice as of September 2025, the domains gup.pe and immers.space seem to have expired and a.gup.pe has been replaced with a WordPress installation full of SEO-targeted content ab...mattcoxonline (GitHub)
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$137 🇺🇸 👀
Honeywell North Primair PA700 PAPR Kit fishersci.com/shop/products/pa…
Honeywell North Primair PA700 PAPR Kit - Personal Protective Equipment, Respiratory Protection
PA700 belt mounted PAPR platform offers convenience and comfort. Ideal for pharmaceutical, manufacturing, abatement, construction, and hospital labs.www.fishersci.com
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🔗 Performance study of microplastic inhalation risk posed by wearing masks (2020) pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/…
Wearing an N95 mask reduces the inhalation risk of spherical-type microplastics by 25.5 times compared with not wearing a mask.Wearing low-quality masks for longer than 4 h can pose higher fiber-like microplastic inhalation risk than not wearing a mask. When the masks are reused for a long time, only N95 respirators pose less fiber-like microplastic inhalation risk compared with not wearing a mask.
COVID-19: Performance study of microplastic inhalation risk posed by wearing masks - PMC
Wearing face masks has become the new normal worldwide due to the global spread of the coronavirus disease 2019. The inhalation of microplastics due to the wearing of masks has rarely been reported.pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
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🔗 Wearing a mask while exercising indoors improves lung function -- masks not only help protect wearers from virus transmission, but improve the exercise experience in both dry and cold conditions ualberta.ca/en/folio/2025/02/w…
Wearing a mask while exercising indoors improves lung function
Face masks not only help protect wearers from virus transmission — they can also help ease the workload on the lungs during exercise in both dry and cold conditions, a U of A study shows.Michael Brown (Folio - University of Alberta)
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The number of people who went from gobsmacked to curious after I told them I always wear a mask while riding my bike is, well, not that high, but still. Most just avoid asking me about masking because reasons.
But yeah, I'd never go back. way more comfortable breathing even in clear air conditions, and orders of magnitude more comfortable in the cold.
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🇺🇸 🧑⚖️
Does anyone have recommendations for a USian called for jury duty if they're prevented from masking up?
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FTtP's gSheet of quantitative fit test results, protocols, suggested test sequence, etc
mstdn.science/@FitTestThePlane…
@FitTestThePlanet @fittestmyplanet @maskup
#YallMasking #MaskUp #WearARespirator #BringBackMasks
Fit Test The Planet (@FitTestThePlanet@mstdn.science)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1arv8PObW_O4HMpScei3KAlt0zj1C55v_/htmlviewmstdn.science
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“One thing that can make a significant difference in reducing illness is masking,”“While it received mixed reactions...one of the greatest missed opportunities in public health...has been acknowledging the effectiveness of masks at reducing spread of airborne illness.”
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🇨🇦 CSA Z94.4:25 -- Selection, use, and care of respirators, draft review (comments open June 20, 2025 - Aug 19, 2025)
This Standard sets out requirements for the selection, use, and care of respirators and for the administration of an effective respiratory protection program in the workplace.
publicreview.csa.ca/Home/Detai…
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🔗 Respirator Types and Use cdc.gov/niosh/ppe/respirators/
Respirator Types and Use
Get information on the use of respirators in the workplace.Personal Protective Equipment
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🔗 Decreases in chimpanzee respiratory disease signs and enteric viral quantity following implementation of anthroponotic disease prevention protocols at a long-term research site sciencedirect.com/science/arti…
Following a fatal outbreak of anthroponotic respiratory disease among chimpanzees at the long-term field site of Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda, research personnel implemented more stringent disease prevention protocols (e.g., use of face masks in the presence of chimpanzees). Furthermore, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a 7-day quarantine period prior to any exposure to chimpanzees was implemented for all Ngogo research personnel.Chimpanzees were observed to cough less frequently following the implementation of more stringent disease prevention protocols compared to the period prior. Coughing frequencies were even lower following the implementation of the quarantine period.
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🔗 Measurements of Surrogate Respiratory Sessile Droplet pH and Implications for Exhaled Respiratory Aerosol and Airborne Disease Transmission pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/…
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Illinois could become the first state in the country to ban mask bans. Here’s how we created the bill to do it. thesicktimes.org/2025/05/27/il…
Illinois could become the first state in the country to ban mask bans. Here’s how we created the bill to do it. - The Sick Times
Anti-mask laws are discriminatory and dangerous, and so I and other disability advocates across the country are stepping up to counter criminalizing with codifying: our bills would enshrine the right to mask in public spaces in state law.Megan E. Doherty (The Sick Times)
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🔗 Minimal Influenza Virus Transmission From Touching Contaminated Floors and Metal Door Levers: Laboratory Study II onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10…
In our previous paper, we demonstrated through a series of experiments that the probability of influenza virus transmission from touching contaminated surfaces of face masks is minimal (Sci Rep 2024, 14, 20211). In the present study, we expanded upon this study by conducting an experimental evaluation of the likelihood of influenza transmission from dried fomites under three specific scenarios... We found that viable viruses were rarely transmitted to fingertips from the above fomites even when the viral loads in the viral fluid contaminating the fomites far exceeded that seen in real life. Consequently, we conclude that the probability of contact transmission of influenza via dried fomites is negligible or minimal under the scenarios studied here.
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🔗 Here’s an Inconvenient Truth: Disease Is in the Air thetyee.ca/Culture/2025/05/16/…
We ignored the science of airborne transmission for a century. Carl Zimmer tells us why.
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1905 aerosol / droplet experiment U.K. parliament
What were the historical reasons for the resistance to recognizing airborne transmission during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Estimating the population-level effects of nonpharmaceutical interventions when transmission rates of COVID-19 vary by orders of magnitude from one contact to another
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🔗 The relationship between early life course air pollution exposure and general health in adolescence in the United Kingdom nature.com/articles/s41598-025…
Higher PM2.5 and NO2 exposure in adolescence increased the number of hospital episodes in young adulthood. Individuals from non-White and disadvantaged backgrounds were exposed to higher levels of air pollution. Air pollution in early and middle childhood might contribute to worse general health, with ethnic minority and disadvantaged children being more exposed.
The relationship between early life course air pollution exposure and general health in adolescence in the United Kingdom - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - The relationship between early life course air pollution exposure and general health in adolescence in the United KingdomNature
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🔗 Indoor Air Pollution: Understanding Harmful Substances in the Indoor Air air-fanta.com/blogs/all/unders…
Understanding Harmful Substances in the Indoor Air
Humans have long recognized the importance of clean drinking water. However, the significance of clean air has not yet been widely acknowledged by the general public.WongAdam (AirFanta)
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🔗 NorthBox 6XL review — the only PC fan air purifier made in Canada
An excellent PC fan-powered air purifier developed by North Box Systems, a father and son company based in Ontario housefresh.com/northbox-6xl-re…
#CovidIsNotOver #CovidIsAirborne
NorthBox 6XL review — a PC fan air purifier made in Canada
The North Box 6XL is an excellent alternative to the CleanAirKits Luggable models for those living in Canada, who are looking for a PC fan air purifier.Danny Ashton (HouseFresh)
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goodmenproject.com/featured-co…
Respirators are so effective that United Kingdom research has indicated their use by the public would have dropped the rate of COVID transmission by an estimated factor of 9, compared with 0.6 for surgical masks. A factor of 9 is enough to put SARS-COV-2 into exponential decay, meaning the virus would have been highly suppressed for as long as respirator use continued. The exponential math of viral spread also means that perfect masking compliance would not have been required to achieve suppression.
#CovidIsAirborne #WearARespirator
How Denial of Airborne COVID Transmission Broke the World - The Good Men Project
As we mark five years since the emergence of SARS-COV-2, the most grievous error of the global pandemic response has become very clear.Healthy Debate (The Good Men Project)
Sigh.
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This might work if we could insert a N95 filter into klan hoods. Otherwise MAGA folks use masks for renditions mainly.
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🔗 How air pollution and wildfire smoke may contribute to memory loss in Alzheimer's disease
Air pollution contributes to nearly 7 million premature deaths each year, and its effects go far beyond the lungs. Breathing in wildfire smoke or automobile-related city smog doesn't just increase the risk of asthma and heart disease -- it may also contribute to brain conditionsScientists have discovered how a chemical change in the brain -- which can be triggered by inflammation and aging as well as toxins found in air pollution, pesticides, wildfire smoke and processed meats -- disrupts normal brain cell function. Known as S-nitrosylation, this chemical change prevents brain cells from making new connections and ultimately results in cellular death
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zeroes.ca/@trendless/109464293…
trendless (@trendless@zeroes.ca)
A "well-fitting mask" that "fits well" is one which... ...provides adequate cover of one's face, neither being too small nor too large :drake_dislike: ...zeroes.ca
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"Respirator" means a facemask that seals around the mouth and nose for the purpose of filtering all the air the wearer inhales.
Respirators can be constructed of either:
a) an elastomeric body designed to be reused many times with replaceable electrostatically-charged, glass fibre, charcoal and/or gas filters, straps, etc
b) an electrostatically-charged fabric designed to be disposed of after one or a small number of uses.
Most reusable elastomeric respirators (N95, FFP2, FFP3, P100) have exhalation valves, but some don't.
Most disposable fabric respirators (KN95, KF94, N95, FFP2, FFP3) don't have exhalation valves, but some do.
🧵
#MaskUp #MaskMeansRespirator #WearARespirator #N95 #P100 #Respie #Elasto #CovidIsAirborne
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to re-up -- about masking and protection against gaseous chemicals which are deleterious to your airways/lungs, such as might be contained in wildfire smoke 👇
zeroes.ca/@trendless/113227130…
#LAFires #LAFires2025 #California #Wildfire #Wildfires #MaskUp #N95 #P100 #OV
To everyone wearing masks as protection against chemicals from the plant on fire in Conyers, GA [edit: or the wildfires in CA]:Gases permeate particulate filtration. Use organic vapour / charcoal filters or full-on [chlorine] gas cartridges to keep it out of your respiratory system.
Masks work -- but they have to be the right kind of mask.
🔗 ctvnews.ca/mobile/world/more-t…
Georgia chemical fire: Shelter-in-place order lifted
Authorities on Monday night ended a shelter-in-place order for more than 90,000 people east of Atlanta following a weekend chemical plant fire that sent a massive plume of dark smoke into the Georgia sky and led to complaints about a strong chemical …The Associated Press (CTV News)
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This post contains a 3M cheatsheet with most of the filters they offer, what they're designed to filter, and their part numbers: zeroes.ca/@trendless/112215285…
Some of these filters and the elastomeric [reusable] respirators on which they fit can be found at hardware and industrial supply stores.
trendless (@trendless@zeroes.ca)
Attached: 2 images @PacificNic I go back and forth between the pancake filters and the cartridges. The 7093 are also made to do easy sealchecks. They're definitely my go-to in precipitation and they blend with the mask body colour more.zeroes.ca
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"Who has a favorite N99 face mask they’re willing to recommend" 👇
mastodon.social/@jkohlmann/113…
Joseph Kohlmann (@jkohlmann@mastodon.social)
Who has a favorite #N99 face mask they’re willing to recommend! Please and thank you 🙇🏼♂️ (Currently using #KN95 masks mostly.) #Covid #CovidIsNotOver #CovidSafe #MaskUpSaveLivesMastodon
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Armbrust sale:
mastodon.social/@stelloctahedr…
ht @stelloctahedron
Jamie (@stelloctahedron@mastodon.social)
FYI Armbrust is selling soon-to-expire ACI N95s at a 75% discount. https://www.armbrustusa.com/collections/usa-made-n95-masks-respirators/products/aci-n95-surgical-respirator-duckbill (N.B.Mastodon
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🔗 Digital Download: Request for Covid Accommodation in Health Care Facilities covidsociety.ca/priorities/saf…
Digital Download: Request for Covid Accommodation in Health Care Facilities - Canadian Covid Society
Everyone deserves safe access to health care, but we know many people are facing resistance to simple, reasonable requests for Covid accommodations like respirators and air filters cleaners.Canadian Covid Society
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Anyone using a ForgedAir respirator? forgedair.co/
dunno if I've seen this one before 🤔
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Got a medium/large; it's just large enough for my large square face. With N99 filters, no perceptible breathing resistance or hiss. Easy to take the eye shield off; easy to put on, though I don't like the back-of-neck quick release buckle. Easy to change the filter. Very little marketing in the packaging.
It's intended as a single use ("today") per filter; they have Canadian certification (they're in Kitchener) and are going more for the general industrial market than SARS.
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🇨🇦 @maskup
United Canada Inc sale 👇
Kimtech/Kleenguard/KimberlyClark pouch N95 small 50pk (54066)
$80 -- great for little kids / small faces
unitedcanadainc.com/products/k…
3M Aura trifold N95 440pk (9205+)
$275 -- great for adults with average faces
unitedcanadainc.com/collection…
Free shipping over $99 (before tax)
KIMTECH N95 POUCH RESPIRATOR
The Kimtech™ N95 pouch respirator is designed to help guard against the risks posed by airborne particles and contaminants.United Canada Inc.
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🔗 Testing and Masking Policies and Hospital-Onset Respiratory Viral Infections jamanetwork.com/journals/jaman…
> stopping universal masking and SARS-CoV-2 testing was associated with a significant increase in hospital-onset respiratory viral infections relative to community infections. Restarting the masking of health care workers was associated with a significant decrease.
> Nosocomial respiratory viral infections remain associated with increased length of stay and higher mortality in hospitalized populations. Our data suggest that masking and testing were 2 potentially effective measures to protect patients who are hospitalized, particularly when community respiratory virus incidence rates were elevated.
Testing and Masking Policies and Hospital-Onset Respiratory Viral Infections
This cohort study examines the ratio between hospital- and community-onset respiratory viral infections at different levels of testing and masking from 2020 to 2024.Theodore R. Pak, MD, PhD (JAMA Network)
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Edit: Thank you for helping. 💚 I ordered some of the Moldex masks and looked up some decent medical tape as a backup for my regular FFP3 masks. I'll be practicing at home with the seal to see if it holds for a couple of hours. I'll bring as much proof as I can collect to convince the hospital employees that I'm wearing no metal. Fingers crossed.
----
Asking for help from German speakers or Moldex mask knowledgeable people, please.
I'll need an MRI soon, so I can't use any masks with metal (nosepiece, clips or antimicrobial layer). Someone told me Moldex masks are MRI-proof, so I've been looking around at their masks and found a German shop where I can order, but I'd like some confirmation. Isn't there any metal on/in the following masks?
industrieware.de/Moldex-Atemsc…
industrieware.de/Moldex-FFP2-N…
industrieware.de/FFP-2-NR-D-At…
industrieware.de/FFP3-Air-Seal…
It would be nice to try them, since I can buy them per 1 piece (I don't want a big box in case they don't fit), there are several sizes, and they ship in time to me.
Have you tried any Moldex masks? Do they give a good fit for you? Any noticeable differences between the several types? They appear kind of big in the pictures.
PS: Readimasks aren't available in the EU, the easimask is sold out in EU stores, or only sold in expensive bulk, or take too much time and money with customs to get imported on short notice. I have a Prescient Breathe mask without metal, but can't get a good seal with it and the hospital most likely won't allow any elastomeric respirators and the likes, so it's really a total last resort to depend on one of those.
I could still use the FFP3 mask I normally use and remove the metal nosepiece, then try to seal it with medical tape. But the seal might not stay perfect throughout the process either.
#diemaskebleibtauf #MaskUp #covid #CovidIsNotOver #covid19 #SARScov2 #WearAMask
2480 - Smart FFP2 Maske von Moldex - SchatTec Klebstoffe | Kunsstoffw, 2,74 €
Industrieware.de Atemschutzmaske der Klasse FFP2, Staubmaske für die Industrie, das handwerk und Privat. Auch für Covid-19 geeignet.2480 - Smart FFP2 Maske von Moldex - SchatTec Klebstoffe | Kunsstoffw, 2,74 €
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Hi, masks 1, 2 and 4 are not explicit about their materials, unfortunately.
This one has a data sheet at the bottom though: industrieware.de/FFP-2-NR-D-At…
Materials of that one are polypropylene, ethylene vinyl acetate and natural rubber
Maybe you can google the mask's names + datenblatt, should net you more info
Moldex FFP2 Einwegmaske - SchatTec Klebstoffe | Kunsstoffwannen | Sch, 2,42 €
Industrieware.de Moldex Atemschutzmaske 2400 - FFP2 NR D hier im Shop aich einzeln zu kaufen.Moldex FFP2 Einwegmaske - SchatTec Klebstoffe | Kunsstoffwannen | Sch, 2,42 €
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ContraindiKate
in reply to trendless • • •Mask Up reshared this.