A teenager wearing a mask (illustration) -

ALLILI MOURAD / SIPA

It has been an almost daily question since the start of the coronavirus pandemic: when to change your protective mask?

Scottish researchers may have found the answer.

In its Motherwell laboratory, near Glasgow (Scotland), Insignia Technologies has indeed developed a label to affix to protective equipment, which changes color when it has been worn too much to remain effective.

The sticker changes from yellow to blue

These vignettes "use a variety of intelligent pigments and inks that change color when exposed to carbon dioxide," Graham Skinner, the company's engineer, told AFP.

“When the pandemic started and there was confusion about when to throw away a mask, we decided to use this technology to develop a label that changes color and would be applicable on a mask or gown” , he adds.

The indicator is activated when placed on protective equipment.

Yellow at first, it gradually turns blue after four to six hours.

It can be used on a reusable mask.

Towards “massive innovation”?

Ignazio Maria Viola, physicist at the University of Edinburgh (Scotland), emphasizes the effectiveness of protections on the mouth to stop the transmission of the virus.

But note that there is still room for "massive innovation" on their use.

"Research conducted since the start of the year shows that transmission is through droplets exhaled through the mouth and masks can really prevent their dispersion," he insists.

"What we have learned has undoubtedly changed the way we will design and manufacture face protection in the future."

“There is so much that we know, that we did not know eight months ago,” he observes.

According to the scientist, masks could be developed to target droplets of specific sizes, "which filter out exactly those which carry the virus".

"Wearing a mask can really make a difference"

In August, researchers at the University of Edinburgh concluded that someone without a mask standing two meters away from a coughing person was exposed to 10,000 times more infected droplets than someone wearing a mask just 50 centimeters.

“We knew that masks of different materials were effective in different ways at filtering droplets.

But when we looked specifically at the largest droplets that were supposed to be the most dangerous, we realized that even the simplest homemade mask, made from a single layer of cotton, is extremely effective, ”emphasizes Ignazio Maria Viola. .

“Wearing a mask can really make a difference”.

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