#First responder’s test reveals how much air each type of mask lets through

A first responder has conducted a video experiment that puts most types of face masks used to combat the spread of COVID-19 to the test. In the video, Vince Dizon of Cebu City, Philippines, holds up a lighter about a foot in front of his face and attempts to blow it out wearing different face coverings.

First, Dizon wears no mask at all, and blows out the flame handily. Then, wearing just a t-shirt over his mouth, he’s easily able to blow out the flame — same with the cloth homemade mask.

Then he wears a surgical mask and a variety of N95 masks, and is unable to blow out the flame, suggesting that these types of masks are better at containing the types of droplets that can spread the coronavirus.

Though his test wasn’t scientific, it appears that the more comfortable and widely available surgical masks do a perfectly fine job at containing the particles, whereas cloth masks seem to be less effective.

Still, the CDC warns that any type of mask — including cloth — is critical to containing the spread of the disease.

“I did this video to educate people and create awareness about the differences of face masks,” Dizon told Caters news service. “I’m overwhelmed that my own simple curiosity made an impact to everyone who has seen my video.”

His is just the latest experiment to find the most optimal face mask. Most recently, a groundbreaking Duke University study ranked the most common types of face masks in order of most effective to least effective.

In that experiment, scientists outfitted a black box with a laser and a cellphone camera and had four testers try out the 14 donated options. Wearing each mask, a tester would speak in the direction of the laser beam inside the box, saying the phrase “Stay healthy, people” five times. A camera recorded the amount of respiratory droplets set off by the speech, and an algorithm determined how many droplets had leaked through the face covering.

Their results found that the N95, followed by the surgical mask were the best options for containing respiratory droplets.

Valved N95 masks, notably, performed poorly, since they’re designed to let air out — the opposite of what we want in this pandemic. That was followed by hand-sewn cotton masks at #8 of the 14. Bandanas and neck gaiters were the worst of the bunch.

The N95 masks and their similarly stringent counterparts, the KN95, are the most effective in most experiments, but the FDA only recommends front line health care workers wear these masks. The rest of us should stick to masks including the common blue surgical masks, according to the recommendations.