[redgolum]

I have worn respirators most of my life. From working on the farm, to hazmat.

If you are not fitted for a respirator, they may not provide protection. Even if you are, if you are not trained on donning and doffing, it isn’t going to work.

For several locations I had to use a respirator for particulate protection. Particulates are small particles of material, several orders of magnitude larger than viruses.

For silica dust, N95’s were explicitly banned as not being tight enough. We had to use N100, often in stages, and half or full face respirators. If you wear one of these and have reduced lung capacity, you will pass out or die. If you have facial hair, you will not have a good seal.

I could go on.

A joke in Hazmat is in dealing with an acid atmosphere, you will know where the leaks are.

[Mr Rogers]

I was in the military. We had Nuclear / Biological / Chemical (NBC) Warfare training, rules etc. I can just imagine what would have happened if I had gone out to the flightline, during an exercise in NBC, wearing an N95 mask. No gloves, suit, covers, no procedures to put it on/off, no showers....just assume an N95 mask protected me from biological warfare.

It would have resulted in such a massive fail! Our squadron had pressure doors, showers, etc built in.

[redangus]

Taught OSHA HazMat classes for years and have fit tested thousands of people as part of those classes. I’ve also developed PPE programs for a number of companies. Bottom line paper or N95, neither will protect you from a viral aerosol. The mask mandates are the perfect example of government incompetence. It’s not about public health and never has been.

[sarge83]

Ding-ding-ding! My wife and sister-in-law have worked or still work in the health care field and if you are not fitted and use proper techniques in putting the N95 on and off you are wasting your time just like you did with the surgical/cloth masks.