1. Different standards
The main difference between disposable medical masks and medical surgical masks lies in their standards. Medical surgical masks comply with the requirements of YY 0469-2011 "Medical Surgical Masks" pharmaceutical standard, while disposable medical masks comply with YY/T 0969-2013 "Disposable Medical Masks". When purchasing masks, you can find standard information on the outer packaging. As long as it is YY 0469-2011, it is a medical surgical mask, and YY/T 0969-2013 is a disposable medical mask.
2. Different manufacturing processes
Medical surgical masks are divided into three layers: an internal water absorbing layer, a middle filtering layer, and an external waterproof layer. The inner layer is a skin friendly and moisture absorbing layer (usually made of spunbond non-woven fabric, mainly used for moisture absorption), the middle layer is an isolation and filtering layer (usually made of melt blown fabric that has been subjected to polar treatment, mainly used to block bacteria, viruses, and small particles), and the outer layer is a spunbond water repellent layer (usually made of spunbond non-woven fabric, used to block droplets) in three layers.
It should be noted that the middle layer of the meltblown cloth, which has undergone electrostatic treatment, is commonly known as the "heart" of the mask. When virus containing droplets approach the meltblown cloth, they will be blocked, and the virus will be electrostatically adsorbed on the fiber surface, unable to pass through, which can act as a barrier to virus transmission. But we also found that some disposable medical masks are limited by various factors such as manufacturer qualifications, supply of meltblown fabric raw materials, prices, and production processes. Many non compliant disposable medical masks use low-quality meltblown fabric or do not have an intermediate meltblown fabric isolation layer, which has poor or no virus barrier effect and cannot guarantee the safety of the wearer.
3. Different protective performance
In the standards for medical surgical masks and disposable medical masks, both require a bacterial filtration efficiency of over 95%, which means that both types of masks are clearly capable of blocking bacteria. But there is a significant difference that medical surgical masks have a filtration efficiency of over 30% for non oily particles with a diameter of 0.3 μ m, and a fluid resistance of 120mmHg for splashes (droplets) of blood, body fluids, etc., but disposable medical masks do not require this.
This indicates that in addition to isolating bacteria, medical surgical masks can also isolate blood, body fluid splashes, and non oily particles, while the isolation effect of disposable medical masks on blood, body fluid splashes, and non oily particles is unknown. The meltblown fabric in the middle layer of medical surgical masks has been subjected to electrostatic treatment, which plays a role in electrostatic adsorption and barrier against viruses. However, the quality of the meltblown fabric in the middle layer of disposable medical masks is poor or there is no meltblown layer, and some have not been subjected to electrostatic treatment, resulting in poor virus barrier effect.
4. Different usage scenarios
Medical surgical masks can be used for higher-level protection for medical outpatient and ward staff. However, disposable medical masks can only be used for ordinary level protection. If they do not contain meltblown fabric, they have little antiviral effect.
According to the recommendation of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention: medical staff working in general outpatient clinics and wards; Staff in densely populated areas, including hospitals, airports, train stations, subways, ground buses, airplanes, trains, supermarkets, restaurants and other relatively sealed places; Engaged in administrative management, police, security, express delivery and other related industries related to the epidemic; It is recommended that individuals undergoing home isolation and those living with them wear medical surgical masks.