What is a mask with a breathing valve?
A mask with a breathing valve (aka. breathing valve or exhalation valve), are masks that are designed with a typically plastic contraption that lets out exhaled air with less resistance, compared to say a fabric covering.
Concerns about protection for others
With respect to COVID-19 transmission, there is a general concern that masks with a vent do not protect others because the valve allows exhaled air direct route to the outside. This is deemed not protective to others because exhaled air, including potentially infectious droplets, is not filtered through the fabric of the face covering.
This is a fair concern. When we all wear masks, the goal is to protect each other because it limits droplet spread from those who are infected to others. Having a mask that can easily let out droplets is therefore detrimental to this cause. That is why, at EverydayMask.ca, we have taken precaution to not stock masks that have a direct exhalation path through the breathing valve. Read on…
Our masks with breathing valve have two layers of fabric protection!
We, at EverydayMask.ca, have decided to stock only masks with breathing vale that have an extra layer(s) of protection between the inside of the mask and the valve.
All our masks with breathing valve have two layers of fabric between the inside of the mask and the valve.
The valve / vent / respirator is covered on the inside by two layers of fabric
Therefore these masks still limit droplet spread while allowing for less breathing resistance for those who may benefit from such a feature. Additionally these masks still offer an inside pocket where a mask filter like a PM2.5, Filti or any other home-made filter can be inserted to increase the filtration efficiency of a cloth mask.
Why some prefer masks with breathing valve
We have found that some of our customers have legitimate reasons for seeking masks with vents. In fact, these kinds of masks represent a higher proportion of our sales compared to the others with no vents. We have been curious as to why some of our customers have preferred the vented masks and here are some reasons that various customers have provided:
- “I have to wear a mask for 8 hours at work, having one with a vent just works better for wearing a mask for that long”
- “I wear glasses and I am hoping that having a mask with a breathing valve helps prevent my glasses from fogging up”
- “I have respiratory issues that make wearing a mask difficult. A breathing valve is desirable because it will offer less resistance while still being protected”
We are not making any claims that we stand by these benefits. However, we wanted to share these to highlight some of the benefits that our customers perceive vented masks would provide.
We have a number of masks both with breathing valve and without. Please have a look at our masks and filters to find whichever one suits you.