Thread by @DrSidMukherjee

1/n Can ONE genius bioengineering lab help with the following experiment ?
a. Take a homemade double/triple layered cotton mask
b) Establish the size of particle and filtration efficiency per size (or droplet) and plot a curve (x axis size, y axis filtration efficiency)

2/n c) Heat the mask at 70 degrees celcius for 30 minutes
d) Repeat the experiment
e) Do this for 5 or 10 times over
f) Give us the data
The question is: do repeated decontaminations of homemade masks change the filtration efficiency?

3/n The particle size should cover the range -- from 0.2 microns all the way to 1000 um. Respiratory droplets, all droplets generated by an expiratory event, have diameters d that cover a large size range from approximately 0.6 to more than 1000 µm.

4/n Remember that the perfect cannot be the enemy of the good. At low dose viral exposure, most virus LIKELY does not travel as a lone virus, but in respiratory droplets from coughing etc. So, the real protection is against droplets.

5/n And remember that the dose matters. Read my piece below. We know about N95 masks decontamination. I am asking about the cotton masks that people are being forced to wear.
newyorker.com/magazine/2020/…

6/n It would take a good bioengineering lab 8 hours to do this experiment. And it would do a whole lot of public good. So please, can someone try ? Or propose a better experiment ? Happy to be corrected and informed.

7/n And for N-95, there are many options, including UV light, and heating in an oven. I AM ASKING ABOUT A TWO LAYERED COTTON MASK. If you are interested in the N95, it is below
stanforddaily.com/2020/03/31/sta…

8/n And just to be clear, this is NOT to diminish the role of hand hygeine, isolation and distancing. But let's do this in a data driven manner. The POTUS won't wear a mask ? It's not as if we have any faith left in him anyway