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Comment by tablespoon | Hacker News Reader

> N95 masks fit very tightly, come in different shapes and sizes to fit different people, and will leave imprint marks on a persons face. This is beyond what the general public is really willing to go through, so they’re really not used many places outside of medical settings, and it’s not really realistic to have them properly fit tested by the general public.

That's not true. They're extremely common in construction for dealing with dust and paint aerosols. I wouldn't be surprise if that's the application they were actually developed for.

At the beginning of the pandemic, I had a bunch because I always use one when I sand or spraypaint.

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> paint aerosols.

A warning/clarification here - N95 masks will not protect you against paint fumes. You should never use them when spray painting. You need a respirator with a charcoal canister.

That said, even with a proper respirator it's really hard to get the fit right. I had a big painting project two years ago and I could often smell the paint, which means it wasn't working.

You’re correct and I’m aware of their use in industry. I was unclear but what I meant was that they’re not commonly used by the general public for COVID protection outside of medical settings.

> You’re correct and I’m aware of their use in industry. I was unclear but what I meant was that they’re not commonly used by the general public for COVID protection outside of medical settings.

That's not actually true either, or not true for the reason you assume. I'd say I've seen about 5-10% of public mask-wearers with more-available KN95s, which does count as "common" (just not ubiquitous). N95s were extremely unavailable for a long time, but early in the pandemic, I saw at least that much N95 use (given lots people like me probably had a few laying around, that then got used up).

I am referring to actual NIOSH N95s when I say N95. They are certainly used by a slim minority of people on the street, and I am not stating otherwise. However, their lack of comfort is a reason many people would/do choose not to wear them. In the context of use by the general public, I'm implying that it is not really practical to expect mass use of (or mandate) N95s. It would not be received well, and they wouldn't be used properly anyway. In a world where we're struggling to convince people to cope with the inconvenience of wearing surgical masks -- you're definitely not going to convince them with a NIOSH N95. KNs/FFPs are reasonable compromises, and they're downright cozy by comparison.

KN95 masks are just rebranded PM2.5 masks that Asians wore mostly to avoid pollution particulates.

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