The production line for masks is very simple, but the important thing is that the quality assurance of masks needs to be checked layer by layer.
A mask will be produced quickly on the production line, but in order to ensure quality, there are many quality inspection procedures. For example, as a medical protective mask with high protection level, it needs to undergo 12 inspections before it can be put on the market.
Masks are classified differently, and there are slight differences in testing standards. Medical protective masks have the highest level and require multiple tests such as nose clips, mask straps, filtration efficiency, airflow resistance, synthetic blood penetration, surface moisture resistance, and microbial indicators. In the flame retardant performance tester for masks, the staff put a mask on the head mold and started the machine to ignite. The head mold wearing a mask cuts through a flame with a height of 40 millimeters and an external flame temperature of around 800 degrees Celsius at a speed of 60 millimeters per second, causing the outer surface of the mask to curl up slightly due to burning.
Qualified medical surgical and protective masks should have flame retardant properties, and under specified laboratory conditions, the continuous burning time of the fabric after removing the flame should not exceed 5 seconds. Unqualified masks can generate a large flame in severe cases, and the ignition time may exceed 5 seconds. The mask will also undergo synthetic blood penetration experiments, simulating the scene of blood splashing onto the mask through inspection equipment. A qualified product is one that, after completing this experiment, has no blood penetration on the inner surface of the mask.
The stronger the tightness of a mask, the stronger its protective effect, so the tightness test is also an important part of mask quality inspection. The reporter saw that this test requires selecting 10 different head shapes of 5 men and 5 women for tightness testing. The tested personnel need to simulate the movements of medical staff during work, and collect data in different positions such as normal breathing, left and right head turning breathing, and up and down head turning breathing. Only after 8 people meet the standards can the tightness of this batch of products be determined to meet the requirements.
According to national standards, some inspection items have strict time requirements. For example, microbial limit testing takes 7 days, and bacterial filtration efficiency testing takes 48 hours to produce results.
In addition to medical protective masks and daily protective masks, we also come into contact with disposable protective masks, knitted masks, mask paper and other products in our daily lives. In addition, there is another type called a self-priming filter type anti particle mask, which was later changed to a self-priming filter type anti particle respirator in order to describe the national standard more accurately.
Medical protective mask testing
The testing standard is GB 19083-2010 Technical Requirements for Medical Protective Masks. The main testing items include basic requirement testing, compliance testing, nose clip testing, mask strap testing, filtration efficiency, airflow resistance measurement, synthetic blood penetration testing, surface moisture resistance testing, residual ethylene oxide, flame retardancy, skin irritation testing, microbial testing indicators, etc. Among them, microbial testing items mainly include total bacterial colony count, coliform group, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, hemolytic streptococcus, fungal colony count, and other indicators.
Regular protective mask testing
The testing standard is GB/T 32610-2016 Technical Specification for Daily Protective Masks. The main testing items include basic requirement testing, appearance requirement testing, internal quality testing, filtration efficiency, and protective effect. The internal quality testing items mainly include color fastness to friction, formaldehyde content, pH value, content of decomposable carcinogenic aromatic amine dyes, residual amount of ethylene oxide, inhalation resistance, exhalation resistance, strength of mask strap and its connection with the mask body, fastness of exhalation valve cover, microorganisms (coliform group, pathogenic purulent bacteria, total number of fungal colonies, total number of bacterial colonies)
Mask paper detection
The testing standard is GB/T 22927-2008 “Mask Paper”. The main testing items include tightness, tensile strength, breathability, longitudinal wet tensile strength, brightness, dust content, fluorescent substances, delivery moisture, hygiene indicators, raw materials, appearance, etc.
Testing of disposable medical masks
The testing standard is YY/T 0969-2013 “Disposable Medical Masks”. The main testing items include appearance, structure and size, nose clip, mask strap, bacterial filtration efficiency, ventilation resistance, microbial indicators, residual ethylene oxide, and biological evaluation. The microbiological indicators mainly detect the total number of bacterial colonies, coliforms, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus hemolyticus, and fungi. The biological evaluation items include cytotoxicity, skin irritation, delayed type hypersensitivity reactions, etc.
Knitted mask testing
The testing standard is FZ/T 73049-2014 Knitted Masks. The main testing items include appearance quality, intrinsic quality, pH value, formaldehyde content, decomposable and carcinogenic aromatic amine dye content, fiber content, color fastness to soap washing, water, saliva, friction, sweat, breathability, and odor.
PM2.5 protective mask testing
The testing standards are T/CTCA 1-2015 PM2.5 Protective Masks and TAJ 1001-2015 PM2.5 Protective Masks. The main testing items include surface inspection, formaldehyde, pH value, temperature and humidity pretreatment, decomposable carcinogenic ammonia dyes, microbial indicators, filtration efficiency, total leakage rate, respiratory resistance, mask strap to body connection force, dead space, etc.
Self suction filtering anti particle mask detection
The original testing standard for self-priming filter type anti particle masks was GB/T 6223-1997 “Self priming filter type anti particle masks”, which has now been abolished. Currently, testing is mainly carried out based on GB 2626-2006 “Respiratory Protective Equipment – Self suction Filtered Particle respirators”. The specific testing items include material quality testing, structural design requirements testing, appearance testing, filtration efficiency testing, leakage, TILv of disposable masks, TI testing of replaceable half masks, comprehensive mask TI testing, respiratory resistance, respiratory valve testing, respiratory valve airtightness, respiratory valve cover testing, dead space, field of view evaluation, headband, connecting components and connection stress testing, lens testing, airtightness testing, flammability testing, cleaning and disinfection testing, packaging, etc
Mask testing is a scientifically serious matter. It must be executed in accordance with relevant standards. In addition to the above standards, there are also some local standards for mask testing, such as DB50/T 869-2018 “Applicable Specification for Dust Masks in Dust Workplace”, which specifies dust masks. There are also testing method standards, such as YY/T 0866-2011 “Test Method for Total Leakage Rate of Medical Protective Masks” and YY/T 1497-2016 “Test Method for Evaluation of Virus Filtration Efficiency of Medical Protective Mask Materials Phi-X174 Bacteriophage Test Method”.
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Post time: Jun-03-2024