Canadian Occupational Safety

F E A T U R E 22 www.thesafetymag.com/ca the user will not wear it properly, nor can they wear it for extended periods of time as we are experiencing during COVID," says Dente. Users should make sure they use respirator products that are approved to their provincial OHS regulations for their workplace. One of the long- standing recognized respirator testing authorities is National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). They are a federal agency in the United States under the branch of the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which tests and certifies respirator protection and makes recommendations on improving workplace safety. And even though this is their area of expertise, the pandemic has certainly impacted their production. "While the majority of the marketplace has been looking for disposable respirators, we concentrated on our core business, which is manufacturing reusable respirators focusing on half masks made of various types of rubber including silicone, thermoplastic and elastomeric," says Dente. He also notes that, as per CDC recommendations, "when protecting against a virus such as COVID-19, you should use a respirator that does not have an exhalation valve in order to prevent the possible transmission of the virus from the health-care provider to the patient." "As a result," says Dente, "over the last three months, we have made modifications to our reusable half masks and removed the exhalation valve." Threads A number of companies such as 3M, Dentec, Honeywell, Moldex, etc. have been in the respiratory protection market for a long time and as such target professionals in industries such as construction or health care. What has changed with the pandemic is that a bevy of other companies have started manufacturing masks. Since 2020, it seems as if almost all manufacturers have some kind of face covering or mask offering — some better than others. Xenia Chen, founder of Threads — a company that originally specialized in direct-to-consumer tights — said that her brand made the decision to start making masks early on in the pandemic, in March 2020. "Our factory is in Italy, which was one of the first countries to be hit hard by the pandemic. Our team noticed that, like Canada, they did not have a culture of mask wearing prior to the pandemic, but had subsequently adopted the practice in order to curb the spread. "Our factory was already using some of its capacity to manufacture masks. So, they asked us in March if we wanted to use some of Threads' production capacity," says Chen. "We agreed, knowing that there was a global masks shortage and also predicting Canada would soon follow suit with mask- wearing recommendations. We spent the back half of March planning and product testing." The brand launched Threads Helps on April 4, which is the same day that Dr. Theresa Tam first announced that the use of face masks and coverings could limit the transmission of the virus. Threads makes masks designed for the general public and non-medical frontline workers. For office workers or those working from home, these kinds of masks may be a solution. The brand sells reusable masks for adults and children. "The most important thing for us was to make a high-quality and effective reusable mask that was also priced as low as possible, to make it accessible to everyone," she says. "Our first mask, our Standard Mask, was made using polyamide and elastane." "Since then, we've launched a few others, including our Triple-Layer X-STATIC Mask®, which is made of X-STATIC® silver yarn, one of the most antibacterial and antiviral materials in the world and used by U.S. Special Forces and NASA. Everything we produce is designed with efficacy in mind. We actually performed an experiment to see how much liquid/droplets our mask can hold," says Chen. In addition, Threads has a one-for- one giving initiative with Margaret's Housing and Community Services, which provides support to women living with mental illness and substance use or homelessness. Threads' customers can opt to purchase a pack of masks for women in need, and the brand will match the donation. For users looking into non-medical face coverings, what should they be looking out for? "The two most important things are the tightness of the fabric weave and the fit. It's important that the actual fabric has a tight weave or high thread count. This ensures particles and liquid droplets won't be able to enter through the mask," says Chen. "Secondly, you need to ensure the fit of your masks is tight around your face, forming a seal above the nose and below the chin," she says. "If there are gaping spaces between the mask and your face, the mask is not going to be as effective for you. Since everyone has a unique face shape, it may take some trial and error to find a mask that is a great fit for you." "Since everyone has a unique face shape, it may take some trial and error to find a mask that is a great fit for you." Xenia Chen, Threads KEY FACTS ABOUT RESPIRATORY PROTECTION Face coverings and masks must be distinguished from respirators as each serves a different purpose "I believe, because of COVID, we will see a more widespread use of respirators [post-pandemic] and we will see users wearing them longer and more often," he says. Dentec Safety Specialists focuses on manufacturing respirators to protect general industry and health care rather than face masks or face coverings that are intended for the general population. Dente says that, in the aforementioned applications, when selecting a respirator, users should look for comfort. "If a mask is not comfortable, Broadly, for surgical masks (e.g. used by dentists, surgeons), the standard is ASTM F2100 For respirators (most commonly, the N95 respirator), the standard is 42 CFR 84 Outside of COVID-19, respiratory protection is a key part of numerous industries, notably health care and construction

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