Reader Justin, who used to be in industrial safety products’ sales consultancy, would like to extend some advises to dear Malaysians on what kind of mask to wear and its proper usage during this haze era.

Perhap I can offer a little advise in choosing the right respirator. I was an OSHA product consultant or simple Resiprator Salesman once.

1. Wear a proper N95 Particulate Respirator and not those green/white surgical mask.

2. Why not surgical mask, it’s more cooling and comfortable than respirators?
Of course it is cooling and comfortable because there is not air resistance. When you wear a resp. it covers your respiratory sys very well and because there is canvas between your nose and the environment, there must be air resistance. Surgical mask, it is leaking all over coz for it never covers your respiratory sys. properly. Surgical mask was not meant to protect human, it was meant to protect those expensive equipment from your saliva.

3. You should feel warmer and you can perhaps smell your lunch coz when you breathe out, again there is air resistance due to the respirator (this will not happen for the case of a surgical mask coz air will tend to come in and go out thru less resistance path, and that means the air is not FILTER!!!)

3. So what should I wear?
I recommend all N95 respirators. Some have exhalation valve (for easier breathing and avoid you smelling you own breath). Some are round, and some are foldable. No point buying resp. with carbon coz that is mean for organic vapors (unless you got colleagues that farts a lot) or acid gas. Haze are dust and particulates, so a decent N95 particulate respirator will do.

I recommend 3M 8210 N95 Particulate Respirator. Read wearing instructions for proper protection.

Thanks Justin for the tips.

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