All Masks are not
Created Equal:
The 4 different
Classes of Masks
1 - SaferMask
• Bacterial filtration efficiency is 80%
• Tested and accredited with ASTM F 2101-2104
• Tested and accredited also with AATCC 100-2012
• Tested and accredited also with ASTM F 2100-2019
• Tested and accredited also with AATCC F 22-2017
• EN 14683:2019 (Europe)
• AFNOR S76-001 (France)
• NBN/DTD S65-001 (Belgium)
• Designed to be washed and reused for at least 30 days
• Environmentally-friendly and comfortable to wear
• The best non-medical community mask in the world today
• SaferMask is in a class of its own
2 - KN95 (Chinese standards), N95 (US standards) and FFP2 (UK and EU standards)
• Bacterial filtration efficiency is 95%
• Tested and accredited with EN 149:2001+A1:2009
• Designed to be worn for short periods of 30 minutes at a time
• Some wearers will have trouble breathing because of the tight fit
• Should be disposed of within a week
• For medical use only
3 - Single-use surgical masks
• Bacterial filtration efficiency varies between 10-80%
• Tested and accredited with EN 14683:2019
• Designed to be worn for a day at a time
• Wearers with facial hair will not achieve a tight fit
• Should be disposed of daily
• For medical use only
Both of these types of mask are for medical use only. It is socially irresponsible for anyone other than frontline workers to be wearing these types of masks, especially when the environmental impact is considered.
4 - Community Masks
• Non-medical masks that offer ‘some’ protection
• Social responsibility dictates the wearing of masks
• This class of mask does not usually have accreditations
• No directives for safe and environmentally-friendly disposal
• No standards in place for length of usage
This is where you will see the difference between the huge proliferation of non-accredited, home-made or ineffective ‘fashion’ masks and SaferMasks which are reusable, fully washable and highly accredited.
Why choose
reusable washable anti-bacterial face masks?
All facemasks must be sourced from reputable suppliers, who must evidence the source of the materials used in the construction of the mask and have undertaken the quality assurance assessments necessary for their use
Reusable, protective community masks will ensure medical masks remain available for our country’s frontline medical staff and other emergency services who do need medical grade masks
The volume of masks required for our population demands reusability to avoid the impact of huge quantities of disposable masks which could enter our waste environment systems causing major environmental harm
CE Marking
Government legislation decrees:
Before you place a CE marking on a product, you need to establish which EU New Approach Directives apply to your product. You must not attach a CE marking to a product outside the scope of the directives.
The nearest directive to a mask is the ‘medical devices’ classification which covers all medical-grade masks. Although SaferMask matches and betters the accreditation scores of the best medical masks available, SaferMask is marketed as a non-medical mask and therefore we are not able to apply the CE marking.
This reaffirms SaferMask’s position as the best non-medical mask available today.