EFFICACY ANALYSIS & DEVELOPMENT OF HYBRID FILTER MATERIAL FOR MASK- A CASE STUDY

Abstract

Air pollution is one of the major challenging problems of our environment at present. Polluted and populated urban areas need more concern due to the presence of several sources such as factories, industries, vehicular emissions, garbage burning, construction and demolition projects etc. which contribute towards increasing air pollution in cities and towns. Meteorological conditions also play a key role in the dispersion and movement of such pollutants. Human exposure to air pollution is a major risk for health, inhaling this polluted air causes several detrimental impacts on health of living beings which include asthma, fatigue, chest pain, shortness of breath, sore throat, cardiovascular and heart diseases etc. A common preventive measure known and used by public in such conditions is different varieties of face masks which restrict the particulates (majorly PM10, PM2.5 AND PM1) and other criteria pollutants to an extent. Different masks perform differently according to their efficiencies and the material they are made of, which is directly related to the cost of the masks. Major portion of the population is unaware of the requirement and type of masks to be used for various environments and purposes. Masks are classified into several categories on the basis of usage, material, design, efficiencies and many other key factors. Scientists keep on improving the researches done to make relatively cost effective and efficient masks which provide more protection against the harmful particulates that deposit into the human respiratory system and cause several health issues. Along with industrial development of a nation its emission also increases and the need to cope with that urges so development of several methods is necessary to reduce the exposure of those emissions on living beings. The main objective of this study is to contribute towards improving and developing efficient face masks which can reduce exposure from these harmful emissions by analyzing the efficiencies of several masks available and developing a relatively improved version of them.