What is the difference between a government-certified respirator and a surgical mask?
Respirators are designed to help reduce the wearers exposure to airborne particles. The primary purpose of a surgical facemask is to help prevent biological particles from being expelled by the wearer into the environment. Surgical masks are also designed to be fluid resistant to splash and splatter of blood and other infectious materials and not necessarily for filtration efficiency. Surgical facemasks are not necessarily designed to seal tightly to the face, therefore the potential of air leakage around the edges exists. Even those masks that appear similar to respirators have not been designed to protect the wearer from airborne hazards; therefore they should not be considered an equivalent substitute to government-approved respirators. Some approved respirators are designed to have the characteristics of both an approved respirator and a surgical mask. In the U.S., these products are both approved by NIOSH and cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in surger
