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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Environmental Health and Exposome
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1444411

CRANIOMETRIC DETERMINANTS OF THE FITTED FILTRATION EFFICIENCY OF DISPOSABLE MASKS

Provisionally accepted
Jacob Griffin Jacob Griffin 1*E M. Mcinroe E M. Mcinroe 2Edward R. Pennington Edward R. Pennington 2William Steinhardt William Steinhardt 1Hao Chen Hao Chen 3Steven E. Prince Steven E. Prince 2James M. Samet James M. Samet 2*
  • 1 Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), Oak Ridge, United States
  • 2 Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Durham, North Carolina, United States
  • 3 Department of Occupational Health and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangx, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Exposure to harmful aerosols is of increasing public health concern due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and wildland fires. These events have prompted risk reduction behaviors, notably the use of disposable respiratory protection. This project investigated whether craniofacial morphology impacts the efficiency of disposable masks (N95, KN95, surgical masks, KF94) most often worn by the public to protect against toxic and infectious aerosols. This project was registered with ClinicaltTrials.gov (NCT05388201; registration May 18, 2022). One-hundred participants (50 men, 50 women) visited the Environmental Protection Agency's Human Studies Facility in Chapel Hill, NC between 2022-2023. Craniometrics and 3D scans were used to separate participants into four clusters. Boosting and elastic net regression yielded five measurements (bizygomatic breadth, nose length, bizygomatic nasal arc, neck circumference, ear breadth) that were the best predictors of filtration efficiency based on overall model fit. Fitted filtration efficiency was quantified for each mask at baseline and when tightened using an ear-loop clip. The mean unmodified mask performance ranged from 55.3% (15.7%) in the large KF94 to 69.5% (12.3%) in the KN95. Modified performance ranged from 66.3% (9.4%) in the surgical to 80.7% (12.0%) in the KN95. Clusters with larger face width and neck circumference had higher unmodified mask efficiency. Larger nose gap area and nose length decreased modified mask performance. We identify face width, nose size, nose shape, neck circumference, and ear breadth as specific features that modulate disposable mask fit in both unmodified and modified conditions. This information can optimize guidance on respiratory protection afforded by disposable ear-loop masks.

    Keywords: Face Masks 1, Craniometrics 2 , COVID-19 3, Wildfire Smoke 4, Public Health 5, Mask Modification 6

    Received: 05 Jun 2024; Accepted: 25 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Griffin, Mcinroe, Pennington, Steinhardt, Chen, Prince and Samet. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Jacob Griffin, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), Oak Ridge, United States
    James M. Samet, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Durham, North Carolina, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.