Knowledge and Awareness of Masks and N95 Respirators Used for COVID-19 Prevention Among Chemical Engineering Students at Al-Balqa Applied University, Jordan

Background and Objectives: On March 11, the World Health Organization stated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was a global pandemic; the rapid and extended spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has become a significant cause of concern for face-to-face university study. This study investigated the knowledge and awareness of chemical engineering students in Al-Balqa Applied University (BAU) in Jordan about respiratory protective measures against COVID-19.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was developed using a multi-stage random sampling technique conducted from April 21–28, 2020. The data were collected through an online questionnaire distributed to BAU's chemical engineering students, with 179 responders completed the survey correctly. The data were analyzed statistically using the SPSS program. The questionnaire consisted of two parts: the first measured the student's general knowledge about the COVID-19 pandemic, while the second focused on the respiratory protection methods against COVID-19; it was structured to assess the student's knowledge about the suitable types of masks and respirators used in COVID-19 prevention, their detailed mechanism of action and filtration process type, their production materials, and finally how the student's knowledge affects choosing a proper preventive method.Results: The study found moderate awareness among engineering students about COVID-19 causative agent, effective preventive masks/respirators used, and the mask's viral blockage mechanisms. A total of 89 respondents (49.7%) pointed to the correct best protective mask, i.e., N95 mask. On the other hand, 119 respondents (66.5%) believed that a surgical mask is the best protective mask. The study also showed differences in knowledge between different academic years; the knowledge about respirators, masks, and their action mechanism among senior students in the last three academic years was better than the younger students with a P-value of 0.047 for knowledge about respirator used for protection against coronavirus disease and the P-value of 0.028 for knowledge of the comparisons between the N95 and surgical mask. On the other hand, the study showed a lack of awareness of the most suitable mask types used in pandemics and the appropriate use method.Conclusions: The study found that chemical engineering students in Al-Balqa university were moderately knowledgeable regarding COVID-19 respiratory preventive methods; these results provided an overview of each student's community's knowledge level. Therefore, efforts are needed to improve public awareness through comprehensive educational campaigns to increase students' knowledge, attitude, and practice.

The use of the respiratory protective devices by the population during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction. Wearing a face mask is an important measure against spread of infection during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the study was to analyze various aspects of the face masks use by the population during the pandemic. The questioner was used. Results. Almost all respondents (96.4%) wore respiratory protective devices during the pandemic; 91.4% respondents worn face masks visiting grocery stores, pharmacies and medical organizations; 64.0% - visiting non-food trade facilities; 76.9% - travelling by surface transport, and 76.1% - being on the subway. Different types of face masks were used, 93.3% of respondents used disposable medical mask, 25.4% - reusable cloth masks. However, only 44.8% of respondents indicated that their protective equipment was made of non-woven material; 26.1% did not know how many layers their protective equipment contained; about a third of respondents (20.1% - 30.21%) were not able to assess the effectiveness of different types of respiratory protection. A third of the respondents (33.6%) wore a disposable medical mask for 2 hours, 35.2% - more than 2 hours in one day, 28.0% - for several days. Conclusions. Most of the respondents wore the face mask. Disposable medical masks were most commonly used. Requirements for the duration of wearing of face masks were met by about third of the respondents, for the handling - half of the respondents. Spontaneous choice of face mask by respondents confirms the importance of the development of hygiene guideline for choosing the most effective respiratory protection.

Injuries related to respiratory masks in the US are very rare

Background. Protective facemasks are important for preventing the spread of COVID-19, and almost all Americans have worn them at least some of the time during the pandemic. There are reasonable concerns about some ill effects of mask-wearing, especially for people who wear masks for extended periods, and for the risk of falling as a result of visual obstruction. But there are also unsupported fears and objections stemming from misinformation and fueled by political disputes. Methods. The study analyzed the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) for 2020, using the product code for Respiratory Protection Devices, and calculated population incidence rates using Census data. Results. The NEISS included 128 cases, representing an estimated 5122 reported injuries in the population (95% CI 3322, 6922). The overall rate of injury reports was 1.54 per 100,000 U.S. residents (95% CI 1.00, 2.08). People over age 75 had higher rates than the population overall, with 5.27 injuries per 100,000 (95% CI 2.17, 8.37). The most common type of incidents involved facial injuries, rashes, falls, and those that might be considered anxiety-related. Conclusion. Wearing protective face masks is extremely safe, especially in comparison with other common household products, and in light of their protective benefits with regard to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This information may be useful for public health messaging, and for practitioners trying to increase compliance with mask-wearing guidance.

What We Are Learning from COVID-19 for Respiratory Protection: Contemporary and Emerging Issues

Infectious respiratory diseases such as the current COVID-19 have caused public health crises and interfered with social activity. Given the complexity of these novel infectious diseases, their dynamic nature, along with rapid changes in social and occupational environments, technology, and means of interpersonal interaction, respiratory protective devices (RPDs) play a crucial role in controlling infection, particularly for viruses like SARS-CoV-2 that have a high transmission rate, strong viability, multiple infection routes and mechanisms, and emerging new variants that could reduce the efficacy of existing vaccines. Evidence of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmissions further highlights the importance of a universal adoption of RPDs. RPDs have substantially improved over the past 100 years due to advances in technology, materials, and medical knowledge. However, several issues still need to be addressed such as engineering performance, comfort, testing standards, compliance monitoring, and regulations, especially considering the recent emergence of pathogens with novel transmission characteristics. In this review, we summarize existing knowledge and understanding on respiratory infectious diseases and their protection, discuss the emerging issues that influence the resulting protective and comfort performance of the RPDs, and provide insights in the identified knowledge gaps and future directions with diverse perspectives.

A feasible route for the design and manufacture of customised respiratory protection through digital facial capture

The World Health Organisation has called for a 40% increase in personal protective equipment manufacturing worldwide, recognising that frontline workers need effective protection during the COVID-19 pandemic. Current devices suffer from high fit-failure rates leaving significant proportions of users exposed to risk of viral infection. Driven by non-contact, portable, and widely available 3D scanning technologies, a workflow is presented whereby a user’s face is rapidly categorised using relevant facial parameters. Device design is then directed down either a semi-customised or fully-customised route. Semi-customised designs use the extracted eye-to-chin distance to categorise users in to pre-determined size brackets established via a cohort of 200 participants encompassing 87.5% of the cohort. The user’s nasal profile is approximated to a Gaussian curve to further refine the selection in to one of three subsets. Flexible silicone provides the facial interface accommodating minor mismatches between true nasal profile and the approximation, maintaining a good seal in this challenging region. Critically, users with outlying facial parameters are flagged for the fully-customised route whereby the silicone interface is mapped to 3D scan data. These two approaches allow for large scale manufacture of a limited number of design variations, currently nine through the semi-customised approach, whilst ensuring effective device fit. Furthermore, labour-intensive fully-customised designs are targeted as those users who will most greatly benefit. By encompassing both approaches, the presented workflow balances manufacturing scale-up feasibility with the diverse range of users to provide well-fitting devices as widely as possible. Novel flow visualisation on a model face is presented alongside qualitative fit-testing of prototype devices to support the workflow methodology.

Masonry Dust Risk Control Practices and the Barriers to the Adoption of Engineering Controls in Reducing Risk due to Dust Exposure in Masonry Work

The construction industry is known to be among the most vulnerable industries in terms of occupational safety and health. One of the riskiest activities in construction involves masonry, which reports several cases involving occupational health diseases due to the exposure to silica dust. Thus, this study aims to investigate the perception toward health risks due to exposure to dust in masonry work. A survey research method was adopted for this study, which involved the participation of 25 active construction contractors in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. The findings reveal that respiratory problems and health diseases are the most perceived risks associated to dust exposure in masonry work. There are various barriers to the adoption of engineering control in masonry work such as high costs, lack of awareness of dust hazards, and workers’ attitudes. The current practical intervention methods used by contractor firms are respiratory protection, wet method, and sweeping compound. This study provides information on the current masonry work environment and the barriers of the adoption of engineering control technologies. Additionally, this study suggests that the key players in the construction industry should take an active part to increase the implementation of engineering controls in a construction project, and not rely solely on the use of PPE.