Welcome to our 🧵on clean indoor air! Each Monday we’ll post threads about indoor air quality (IAQ) and its significance to health. We’ll cover the composition of air, how to measure harmful elements, and how to improve unhealthy indoor air. 1/6
We can’t see or touch the air around us. However, it’s key to the planet and to life. It surrounds the earth and provides a protective, insulating cushion. It contains gasses vital to life: oxygen, carbon dioxide, water vapor and nitrogen. 2/6
Did you know our atmosphere is composed of 78% nitrogen and only 21% oxygen? These gasses support plants, animals and the nitrogen cycle, which keeps all life on earth in balance. 3/6
Outside air—or ambient air—makes its way into indoor air and carries with it pollutants, bioaerosols and particulate matter. Surprisingly, indoor pollutants can be 2 to 5 times higher than outdoor levels. Or even 100 times higher. 5/6
This is why healthy, clean indoor air is so important.
Join us next week to learn how we measure and evaluate Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). 6/6
Air also contains bioaerosols, floating microorganisms that stay aloft in the atmosphere. And it contains harmful chemicals from industrial contaminants and natural disasters such as wildfires. In high concentrations, these pollutants are unsafe. 4/6
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During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, reliable masks and other protective equipment became scarce. Supply chains broke down, shipments of desperately needed masks were diverted and counterfeit PPE flooded the market…🧵1/7
Health care workers found themselves facing impossible odds as they cared for overwhelming numbers of patients with little or no protective gear.
It was in response to this crisis that Project N95 began…
…We vetted products, connected health care professionals to reliable sources and worked with manufacturers to stand in the gap for health care workers trying to save lives…
By @MRSmithAP for @AP:
“The high numbers of deaths from COVID-19, guns & other causes are difficult to fathom & can start to feel like background noise, disconnected from the individuals whose lives were lost & the families whose lives were forever altered”bit.ly/3wKfSNR
“There are many parallels between the U.S. response to COVID-19 and its response to the gun violence epidemic, says Sonali Rajan, a prof. at Columbia Univ. who researches school violence.
‘We have long normalized mass death in this country…’ she says,” bit.ly/3wKfSNR
“‘There’s been almost a sustained narrative created by some that tells people that these things are inevitable,’ says @meganranney,… who did gun violence research before COVID-19 hit. “‘It divides us when people think that there’s nothing they can do.’” bit.ly/3wKfSNR
Via @voxdotcom:
“On Thursday, @CDCgov recommended those living in communities w/ high levels of infection wear face #masks indoors in public settings, even though the federal mask mandate is no longer in effect after it was overturned by a federal judge.” bit.ly/3GbtGnm
“Research shows that #masks, if used correctly, can be a valuable tool for reducing the spread of the virus. But the CDC’s #mask recommendation for people living in areas w/ high risks of Covid-19 this week was met with mixed responses online…” bit.ly/3GbtGnm
“…Some have criticized the agency’s inconsistency in its #masking policy, while others tried to paint the CDC’s motives as political, pointing to the upcoming midterm elections…” bit.ly/3GbtGnm
Whoa! TY @ZekeEmanuel!
@KatyTurNBC re: your #KN95 - OK for #Omicron?
GB2626-2019 is latest (Chinese) standard (good sign!) but they aren’t regulated by CDC-NIOSH, so get KN95s from a trusted source (like us).
For BEST fit on face, upgrade to head-strap #N95s, w/ @NIOSH_NPPTL cert
It’s why we think a trusted marketplace so you can have confidence in the quality of the #Masks you buy is impt.
“For K-N95 masks, @crosscutanne said the mask should say: ‘GB 2626 - 2019 then a space & then K-N95. If it doesn’t have that printed…it is not made to the standard.’”
Quality, legit KN95s are better than cloth masks, part of why @US_FDA had issued EUA for temp KN95 use in healthcare settings, when #N95s were scarcer.
Still, some hospitals got counterfeit KN95s - Exec. Dir. @crosscutanne talked w/ @PhillyInquirer on this bit.ly/3HEvwwy
Wondering about the different types of #Masks out there? What exactly is a #BetterMask, anyway? Check out this 🧵 for more details w/ our helpful visual guides here!
First up, NIOSH #N95 Masks
-Highest level of protection for disposable #Masks
-@NIOSH_NPPTL approved
-Head Straps
@NIOSH_NPPTL@NIOSH#KF94 / #KN95#Masks:
-KN95s Manuf. to Chinese GB2626-2019 standard
-KF94s Manuf. to Korean KMOEL 2017-64 standard
-@CDCgov warns: "About 60% of KN95 respirators in the US are counterfeit (fake) & DO NOT meet @NIOSH requirements."
-We verify all KN95s & KF94s we sell are genuine
If you are looking for official US government resources (incl. advice for improving fit, more on Int’l standards, other #masks like #N99, #N100, etc.), see the @CDCgov “Types of Masks @ Respirators” landing page here: cdc.gov/coronavirus/20…
“One study…found…#schools that required #masking had…37% lower incidence of #COVID19…Another study…found…high levels of #mask wearing among students helped keep…rate of in-school spread…to under 1%…as…cases were surging in the wider community.” n.pr/38W2Xf0
@mgodoyh goes on:
“Not masking could be disastrous for schools, says Julie Swann, a department head and professor at North Carolina State University who leads a #COVID19 forecasting team funded by the @CDCgov” n.pr/38W2Xf0
Adding handful (4) of tweets from experts on #Masks in #Schools 🧵here:
1st, former @Surgeon_General@JeromeAdamsMD reminds us #PPE good enough for doctors in the hospital can help mitigate spread in our schools, including high quality, fitted & authentic #N95#masks. 1/4