Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 18, 2025
Effects of Surgical Masks on Cardiopulmonary Function in Healthy Subjects
Published on: February 12, 2021
Comparative Performance Testing of Respirator versus Surgical Mask Using a Water Droplet Spray Model
Paul T J Scheepers1, Heiman F L Wertheim2,3, Maurice van Dael1
1Department for Health Evidence, Research Laboratory Molecular Epidemiology, 6500 HB Radboudumc, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Background:
During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, there was shortage of the standard respiratory protective equipment (RPE). The aim of this study was to develop a procedure to test the performance of alternative RPEs used in the care of COVID-19 patients.
Methods:
A laboratory-based test was developed to compare RPEs by total inward leakage (TIL). We used a crossflow nebulizer to produce a jet spray of 1-100 µm water droplets with a fluorescent marker. The RPEs were placed on a dummy head and sprayed at distances of 30 and 60 cm. The outcome was determined as the recovery of the fluorescent marker on a membrane filter placed on the mouth of the dummy head.
Results:
At 30 cm, a type IIR surgical mask gave a 17.7% lower TIL compared with an FFP2 respirator. At 60 cm, this difference was similar, with a 21.7% lower TIL for the surgical mask compared to the respirator. When adding a face shield, the TIL at 30 cm was further reduced by 9.5% for the respirator and 16.6% in the case of the surgical mask.
Conclusions:
A safe, fast and very sensitive test method was developed to assess the effectiveness of RPE by comparison under controlled conditions.
