Can disposable masks protect against the sun? Be careful of getting darker!

If there is one thing that has suddenly appeared frequently in our lives in the past two years, masks must be one of them. If you go to public places without a mask, you will really have trouble moving.

It is precisely because of the requirement to wear masks that many of our habits have changed. For example, we no longer need to wear lipstick or makeup, and we no longer need to apply sunscreen or use an umbrella when the weather is hot...

Wait! Do masks really protect against the sun?

Masks of various colors, black, white, pink, etc., cover most of the face when put on, and they really look like that. We searched for commonly used disposable protective masks and popular sunscreen masks on the market, and sent them all to the laboratory for testing.

The cost of this evaluation: testing fee 9060 yuan + sample fee 1964.7 yuan = 11024.7 yuan.

The evaluation results are as follows:

Are ordinary masks really that bad at protecting against the sun? How is the experience of using popular sunscreen masks? Are they stuffy? All these questions will be answered below:

This time we bought 4 types of ordinary disposable protective masks in different colors and 1 type of N95 mask to test their sun protection performance.

In fact, as long as there is physical cover, there will be some sun protection ability to a certain extent, but not all cover can effectively block the sun.

There are two values ​​involved here: UPF value and T(UVA)AV. These two values ​​are similar to SPF and PA on sunscreen.

UPF value

UPF value: The ratio of the average effect of ultraviolet radiation when the skin is unprotected to the average effect of ultraviolet radiation when the skin is protected.

The higher the UPF value, the better the sun protection ability of the sun protection clothing. For example, if it takes 10 minutes to get sunburned in a certain situation, then wearing a UPF 40 textile will extend it to 400 minutes before getting sunburned.

T(UVA)AV

T(UVA)AV: The arithmetic mean transmittance of sunlight ultraviolet radiation UVA with a wavelength of 315~400nm.

The smaller the T(UVA)AV value, the less UVA is transmitted, and the better the protection. For example, if T(UVA)AV is less than 5%, it means that more than 95% of UVA can be blocked.

According to the national standard GB/T 18830-2009 “Evaluation of UV Protection Performance of Textiles”, only those with a UPF value greater than 40 and a UVA transmittance less than 5% can be called “UV protection products”.

According to this standard, we tested 5 samples:

The sun protection performance tests of the 5 masks are as follows:

From this we can conclude that the above 5 masks cannot effectively protect against ultraviolet rays. And the sun protection effect has nothing to do with color.

So brothers and sisters who are used to wearing this kind of disposable protective mask when going out, please remember to take sun protection measures!

Since disposable masks that we wear daily have little sun protection effect, what is the sun protection effect of masks on the market that are advertised as having "sun protection" functions? Are they easy to use?

We reviewed 9 popular "sun protection" masks.

We will evaluate these samples from four dimensions: sun protection performance, breathing resistance, breathability, and user experience.

As a sun protection mask, it must first meet the two words "sun protection". We also conducted tests according to the requirements of the national standard GB/T 18830-2009 "Evaluation of UV protection performance of textiles", and the results are as follows:

According to the results, the main UV protection performance of these 9 fabric masks is good and meets the requirements for effective sun protection.

However, sunscreen masks are not disposable items, so they will be washed. Will the sunscreen effect be compromised after washing? We continued to test the sunscreen effect after washing with practical questions.

Method: Wash 3 times in a row according to the prescribed washing method and then test the UV protection performance after drying.

The results are as follows:

It can be seen that after washing 3 times, the sun protection effect is still good.

The T(UVA)AV of some samples is even smaller. We guess that this is because the yarn becomes loose after washing and may cover some gaps.

What about sunscreen masks that are used for a long time?

We also collected some sunscreen masks from our colleagues that had been used for a while, and the test results are as follows:

The results show that even after so many washes, except for the obvious deformation of the appearance, the sun protection performance is still very good. We analyzed that this may be because these masks are made of double-layer fabrics.

The most obvious impact of wearing a mask on us is that our breathing is hindered, especially in the summer when the weather is hot and it may make people uncomfortable.

We compared these 9 samples and found that 6 of them had openings in the nose area, and 3 did not:

Masks with openings will feel better when tried, but they also lose the simplest filtering function.

For the other three samples without openings, since there is no corresponding national standard for sun protection masks at present, we conducted a breathing resistance test based on the method of detecting breathing resistance in 6.5 and 6.6 of GB 2626-2019 "Respiratory Protection Self-priming Filter-type Anti-particulate Respirator":

At the same time, we added disposable protective masks and N95 masks for comparison, and the test results are as follows:

According to the test results, it can be found that the breathing resistance of these three sun protection masks is relatively small, and compared with disposable protective masks, the comfort experience during breathing is better.

In addition to breathing resistance, the breathability of the mask also affects everyone's experience of using it. If the breathability of the mask is not good, allergies, acne, etc. may occur.

Also because there is no standard yet, we referred to the standard FZ/T 73049-2014 "Knitted Masks" to test the breathability of these 9 samples.

The test results are as follows:

The air permeability requirement for textile masks is ≥250mm/s. Referring to this value, we can find that the air permeability of most sun protection masks is quite good.

If you have no idea about these breathability data, let's take a look at the breathability of disposable protective masks and N95 masks under the same conditions:

It's time for volunteers to try out these sunscreen masks. The final word will come after real people try them out.

After 2-3 trials, the volunteers scored and evaluated the samples for your reference (swipe left or right to view details):

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Due to the epidemic, we still have to wear masks in many public places. Here, Dad Review would like to remind you:

Disposable protective masks cannot protect against the sun, so don’t be lazy and take sun protection measures before going out;

Sun protection masks have no protective properties, and you still need to wear ordinary protective masks when traveling in traffic or in crowded places.

We never know what will happen in the next second, and some things may suddenly become very important daily necessities in our lives. While thanking this era for its speed and convenience, I hope everyone will not give up the ability to understand the essence of things.

Only by recognizing these things around us can we truly play their role and provide help to our lives.

Editor | Kaka, Ali

Design | DaGe

Source: Dad Review