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The best disposable masks have been tested for quality, construction, fit, and filtration, and have all been certified by the American Society for Testing and Materials. Here are the best medical surgical-style masks to buy now. ....
Article content Despite emerging science that has changed what we know about how the coronavirus is transmitted, there’s been one constant over the past year: that outdoors is safer than indoors. But lately that message is getting murky, with Quebec recommending the wearing of masks outdoors, then rescinding the recommendation kind of, and Ontario locking up tennis courts, banning golf and temporarily closing playgrounds before opening them again. So what’s changed? Is there new information suggesting that we’ve been underestimating the strength of virus transmission outdoors? Or is it simply an example of messaging that doesn’t reflect the science? ....
Date Time UBC experts team up to tackle air pollution with network of sensors Air pollution is an urgent problem linked to as many as nine million deaths per year worldwide and 14,000 annually in Canada, primarily from related heart and lung diseases. A group of UBC experts are determined to mount a rapid response through research. The team, known as Rapid Air Improvement Network (RAIN), is planning to use a network of air quality sensors, mobile monitoring and sophisticated analysis instruments to locate and study air pollutants with the detail needed to support fast, effective interventions. They plan to install an air quality sensor network on the UBC campus this summer, to leverage the university’s traffic, population and operations data which can be quickly tuned to improve air quality. The project will also outfit a mobile monitoring station that will be used further afield, including communities affected by wildfires and other areas in urgent need. ....
Credit: UBC In the race to stop the spread of COVID-19, a three-layer cloth mask that fits well can effectively filter COVID particles, says a group of UBC researchers. After testing several different mask styles and 41 types of fabrics, they found that a mask consisting of two layers of low-thread-count quilting cotton plus a three-ply dried baby wipe filter was as effective as a commercial non-surgical mask at stopping particles and almost as breathable. The cloth masks filtered out up to 80 per cent of 3-micron particles, and more than 90 per cent of 10-micron particles. We focused on particles larger than one micron because these are likely most important to COVID-19 transmission, explains researcher Dr. Steven Rogak, a professor of mechanical engineering who studies aerosols. While the COVID-19 virus is only around 0.1 micron in size, it is always attached to something larger, like the droplets produced by breathing, talking and coughing, which are typical ....