An Experimental Study of Measuring Facemask Protection under Steady and Episodic Expiratory Emission

Facemasks have been becoming the most common protective measures for general public to prevent airborne pathogen transmission including seasonal/human swine influenza, SARS, etc. However the data of facemasks for reducing infection in community is extremely limited and even inconsistent. Systematic studies to quantify the performance of facemasks are urgently needed to gain more understandings on the effectiveness of prevention of spreading of pathogens generated by expiratory process. No similar research has been reported in the literature.The objectives are to assess exposure protection of facemasks under a wide range of aerosol sizes, emission characteristics, leakage characteristics and breathing rates in controlled experimental environments. All the parameters selected will be based on realistic conditions. Most of the experiments will be conducted using two full-size dummy manikins in a full-scale environmental chamber and one of them to generate aerosols to mimic expiratory process and the other wears a facemask.