How to identify genuine N95 Respirator??

October 07, 2019   by Venus

Pollution season is around the corner in India and with it comes the problem of
diseases. October to January is considered the 4 worst months for air quality in
India. According to some reports that I have read the Delhi air quality index on some
days during the month deteriorates to 500+ where the safe levels are generally
considered below 80.
These diseases have various health consequences on the people. Poor air quality is
a cause of reduced lung capacity, headaches, sore throats, coughs, fatigue, lung
cancer, and early death. According to a report 2.2 million children in Delhi have
irreversible lung damage due to the poor quality of the air. In addition, research
shows that pollution can lower children's immune system and increase the risks of
cancer, epilepsy, diabetes and even adult-onset diseases like multiple sclerosis
In times of crises like these a good respirator goes a long way in protecting the
health of the users. These respirators are designed to protect the user against
harmful PM2.5 sized particles that are most harmful to the human lung. In fact
respirators are so efficient that they even filter out particles as low as of size 0.3
micron. Respirators are designed with special fabrics that help in filtration of air. But
how to identify a good respirator is of utmost importance as some masks or
respirators give the illusion of safety but are not designed to function against these
harmful particles.
Media and print journalism have focused on one particular type of respirator that is
NIOSH approved N95 respirator. In fact the name N95 has become synonyms with
respirators in India as people walk into a shop and ask “N95 mask dena”. But why
has this particular respirator attained such a status whereas there a host of equally
comparable and certified respirators like the CE certified or even our very own ISI
certified respirator. This can be traced back to the SARS outbreak in Asia where the
WHO was issuing directives to deal with the epidemic. Only the NIOSH N95 was
recommended by the WHO to deal with the outbreak. This caused an acute shortage
of these respirators and there was panic due to unavailability. Only when the WHO
was made aware of this, other comparable models like the FFP2 & FFP3 range of
respirators certified by the European body were recommended.
But the trend has persisted and the Indian market has traditionally accepted N95
respirator as the solution. This has unfortunately given rise to counterfeit and
spurious products being sold in the market. A respirator that has N95 written besides
it is not enough to certify its validity. It is made with cheap fabric and duplicate parts
to dupe the consumer. Manufacturers of respirators have also given in to the
demand and have started printing N95 mask on the respirator packs to authenticate
their products. This is wrong and these fraud products are cheating their customers.

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Fortunately there is a way with which users can identify whether the product they are
purchasing is genuine or not. The NIOSH website has a list of certified license
holders to manufacture the N95 respirator. The important thing to identify is the TC
number on the particular respirator. A genuine N95 respirators should have all the
below markings.

Also using this TC number marking on the respirator you can go to the CDC website
and search its validity.
Step: 1- Search NIOSH TC number check on Google and open the CDC website.

Step: 2 -Type the TC number on the respirator in the search box and click view
results

Step: 3- If the TC number is correct the manufacturer’s name will be displayed or it

will show incorrect TC number.

So hopefully next time you go the shop to purchase an N95 respirator you will find
the right choice and be protected from pollution.