Arizona (USA): According to a new study from the University of Arizona found that some materials used in face masks are more protective against infection than others.
At a time when governments across the world are pushing people to wear any mask, including non-medical ones, researchers from the University of Arizona collected data from different studies of mask efficacy, to assess how well various non-traditional mask materials protect a person from COVID-19.
According to reports, when the researchers compared wearing masks to wearing no protection during 20-minute and 30-second exposures to the virus, it was found that the risk of infection was reduced by 24-94 per cent or by 44-99 per cent depending on the mask and exposure duration.
The study also found that risk reduction decreased as the duration of exposure to the virus increased.
The study found that N99 masks are even more efficient than N95 masks as they can reduce average risk by 94-99 per cent.
However, as finding N99 masks is difficult, the researchers suggested that the next best options were the obvious choices of N95 and surgical masks, and a rather strange material - vacuum cleaner filters.
Read: No need for panic over coronavirus being airborne, wear mask for longer time: Expert
The study found that vacuum cleaner filters reduced infection risk by 83 per cent for a 30-second exposure, and 58 per cent for a 20-minute exposure.
After the unconventional choice, tea towels, cotton-blend fabrics, and antimicrobial pillowcases were found to be the next best option for masks, the researchers said.
However, the study found that scarves and cotton t-shirts were not very effective as they reduced infection risk by only 44 per cent after 30 seconds and 24 per cent after 20 minutes.
The researchers said that wearing scarves and cotton t-shirts was only slightly better than wearing no mask at all.
