N95 masks authenticity and how to wear

So the PSI hit 401 last Friday afternoon. But starting Saturday, the haze has cleared up a lot, and a larger part of Malaysia is getting the haze because the wind is changing direction and blowing the haze up North.

So the island went into a frenzy to buy N95 masks. But please be careful when buying masks online, because I have spotted a few websites selling fake masks (or at least it didn't look authentic from the picture). I found a useful link on how to check if your N95 mask is authentic: click here or here.

In short, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) website says:

Filtering Facepiece Respirator (FFR) Labels
Individual filtering facepiece respirators are required to have the following markings:

1. Name of Approval holder/manufacturer business name, a registered trademark, or an easily understood abbreviation of the applicant/approval holder’s business name as recognized by NIOSH. When applicable, the name of the entity to which the FFR has been private labeled by the approval holder may replace the approval holder business name, registered trademark, or abbreviation of the approval holder business name as recognized by NIOSH.
2. NIOSH in block letters or the NIOSH logo
3. NIOSH Testing and Certification approval number, e.g. TC-84A-XXXX.
4. NIOSH filter series and filter efficiency level, e.g. N95, N99, N100, R95, P95, P99, P100
5. Model Number or part number: The approval holder’s respirator model number or part number, represented by a series of numbers or alphanumeric markings, e.g. 8577 or 8577A.

NIOSH recommends the lot number and/or date of manufacture also be included, however, this is not required.
Sample of a generic filtering facepiece respirator with appropriate markings.

picture credit: CDC

It's interesting to note that although the is a whole list of approved N95 masks, the most popular is from 3M, model 8210.

picture credit: 3M

I think many people do not understand what N95 is. It's a filter efficiency level, and taken from the CDC website:

The N, R and P designations refer to the filter's oil resistance as described below. 

N95 - Filters at least 95% of airborne particles. Not resistant to oil.
N99 - Filters at least 99% of airborne particles. Not resistant to oil.
N100 - Filters at least 99.97% of airborne particles. Not resistant to oil.
R95 - Filters at least 95% of airborne particles. Somewhat resistant to oil.
P95 - Filters at least 95% of airborne particles. Strongly resistant to oil.
P99 - Filters at least 99% of airborne particles. Strongly resistant to oil.
P100 - Filters at least 99.97% of airborne particles. Strongly resistant to oil.

I have link the webpage for the list of approved masks with the filter efficiency level.

Below are some other types of masks available:

picture credit: MOH



I have also spotted people wearing masks the wrong way, so here is a picture on how you should wear the N95 3M 8210 mask:

picture credit: HPB

I also found a video on how to wear the mask:

Although the PSI is dropping, do take care and drink lots of water. :)