The DOI matches its Crossref record; 29 of the 29 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Surgical mask filter and fit performance
Open accessAbstract
Background Surgical masks have been used since the early 1900s to minimize infection of surgical wounds from wearer-generated bacteria. There is ongoing debate, however, whether surgical masks can meet the expectations of respiratory protection devices. The goal of this study was to evaluate the filter performance and facial fit of a sample of surgical masks. Methods Filter penetration was measured for at least 3 replicates of 9 surgical masks using monodisperse latex sphere aerosols (0.895, 2.0, and 3.1 microm) at 6 L/min and 0.075-microm sodium chloride particles at 84 L/min. Facial fit was measured on 20 subjects for the 5 masks with lowest particle penetration, using both qualitative and quantitative fit tests. Results Masks typically used in dental settings collected particles with significantly lower efficiency than those typically used in hospital settings. All subjects failed the unassisted qualitative fit test on the first exercise (normal breathing). Eighteen subjects failed the assisted qualitative fit tests; 60% failed on the first exercise. Quantitative fit factors ranged from 2.5 to 9.6. Conclusion None of these surgical masks exhibited adequate filter performance and facial fit characteristics to be considered respiratory protection devices.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“In general, the filter efficiency of N95 FFRs is superior to SMs. (7,8)”
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Toward Understanding the Risk of Secondary Airborne Infection: Emission of Respirable Pathogens
Nicas, M., Nazaroff, W. W., & Hubbard, A. (2005) · Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene · doi:10.1080/15459620590918466 · Cited by 867
(1994) · PsycEXTRA Dataset · doi:10.1037/e546872006-001 · Cited by 490
Inhaling to mitigate exhaled bioaerosols
Edwards, D. A., Man, J. C., Brand, P., Katstra, J. P., Sommerer, K., Stone, H. A., Nardell, E., & Scheuch, G. (2004) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0408159101 · Cited by 362
SARS among Critical Care Nurses, Toronto
Loeb, M., McGeer, A., Henry, B., Ofner, M., Rose, D., Hlywka, T., Levie, J., McQueen, J., Smith, S., Moss, L., et al. (2004) · Emerging Infectious Diseases · doi:10.3201/eid1002.030838 · Cited by 345
Bacterial aerosols in dental practice – a potential hospital infection problem?
Rautemaa‐Richardson, R., Nordberg, A. K., Wuolijoki‐Saaristo, K., & Meurman, J. H. (2006) · Journal of Hospital Infection · doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2006.04.011 · Cited by 211
Particle Concentration in Exhaled Breath
FAIRCHILD, C. I., & STAMPFER, J. F. (1987) · American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal · doi:10.1080/15298668791385868 · Cited by 169
Aerosol penetration and leakae characteristics of masks used in the health care industry
Weber, A. M., Willeke, K., Marchloni, R., Myojo, T., McKay, R. T., Donnelly, J., & Liebhaber, F. B. (1993) · American Journal of Infection Control · doi:10.1016/0196-6553(93)90027-2 · Cited by 156
Disposable surgical face masks for preventing surgical wound infection in clean surgery
Vincent, M., & Edwards, P. J. (2016) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd002929.pub3 · Cited by 138
Comparison of Performance of Three Different Types of Respiratory Protection Devices
Lawrence, R. B., Duling, M. G., Calvert, C. A., & Coffey, C. C. (2006) · Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene · doi:10.1080/15459620600829211 · Cited by 127
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Respiratory protective devices; final rules and notice, 42 CFR part 84. 1995;60:30335-98.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 301–311 of 311
Bacterial Filtration Efficiency
Stevina, L., & Tjampakasari, C. R. (2024) · Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · doi:10.51559/jcmid.v4i1.49
Evaluation of the performance of respiratory protective devices
Wang, F. (2024) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-95316-0.00008-6
Thermophysiological comfort assessment of face masks: Performance, design, and material
Gholamreza, F., Golovin, K. B., & Milani, A. S. (2024) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-95316-0.00002-5
Future‐Proofing Dentistry: A Qualitative Exploration of COVID ‐19 Responses in UK Dental Schools
Vernon, J. J., Vinall‐Collier, K. A., Csikar, J. I., Emms, G., Lancaster, P. E., Nattress, B. R., & Wood, D. J. (2024) · European Journal Of Dental Education · doi:10.1111/eje.13055
Sugimoto, Y., Ishikawa, C., Takeno, S., Kawasumi, T., Takemoto, K., Horibe, Y., & Ishino, T. (2025) · Nihon Bika Gakkai Kaishi (Japanese Journal of Rhinology) · doi:10.7248/jjrhi.64.86
Identifying the effectiveness of face mask in a large population with a network-based fluid model
Anand, A., & Shoele, K. (2025) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0324229
Ouma, D. A., Mutai, M., Njeru, E. M., Oyore, J. P., Neondo, J. O., Jagongo, A. O., Omwenga, G., Ngugi, M. P., Ngayo, M. O., & Oduor, R. (2025) · Journal of the Oman Medical Association · doi:10.3390/joma2020012
Ivanova, M., & Angelova, R. A. (2025) · Textiles · doi:10.3390/textiles5040059 · Cited by 1
Talukder, A., Rai, S., Mohakar, V. N., Ponnusamy, P. G., & Sharma, S. (2026) · De Gruyter eBooks · doi:10.1515/9783111243757-007
Chan, W.-Y., Ng, S.-P., Leung, S.-H. M., Yick, K., Loh, A. W.-K., Ng, S.-Y., & Lam, K. C. (2026) · Applied Sciences · doi:10.3390/app16168197
Metadata
- Authors
- Oberg, T., & Brosseau, L. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Minnesota (US)
- ORCID
- Brosseau, Lisa M.
- Venue
- American Journal of Infection Control
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2008-05
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 276-282
- ISSN
- 0196-6553 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7115281
- OpenAlex
- W2051689964
- Cited by
- 310
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 81 · 2020: 62 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 7.68
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- American Journal of Infection Control (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (T42/OH008434, 1t42oh008434-01)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Infection Control and Ventilation
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Aerosol Filtration and Electrostatic Precipitation
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Occupational Health and Safety in Workplaces
- Keywords
- surgical masks, filtration efficiency, respiratory protection, particle penetration, dental masks, aerosol filtration, surgical site infection
- MeSH terms
- Equipment Failure, Female, Humans, Male, Masks, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, U.S., Respiratory Protective Devices, United States, United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Infection Control, Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional, Equipment Failure Analysis, Particulate Matter
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
