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Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,545
Registered: ‎03-24-2018

a friend gave me a pkg with 2 in it recently.  but i am not sure how old they are so not sure about using them.   i wrote 3m but they said yes they are good for using during the virus but they didnt help on knowing how old the masks are!  they do not have the vent on them.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,913
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

@FlowerBear 

 

If they are still in a wrapped package of 2?  He!!, the hospital hands us masks that are in a stack out in the open. Same with Target and other places offer them. 

 

Now it's come to worrying about packaged masks?  Sad. 😣

 

 

hckynut 

hckynut(john)
Honored Contributor
Posts: 8,736
Registered: ‎02-19-2014

@SilleeMee wrote:

Important difference between N95 masks:

 

download.jpg


@SilleeMee is right. I have a valved one I bought from a car parts store because thought it was extra safe for everyone. Turns out it was only extra safe for me.

 

I wore it once in public, and it was a big mistake. I don't think I had Covid to spread at the time. But no one can be 100% sure of that because anyone could be asymptomatic. I should have worn another mask over it if I was going to wear it at all.

 

Don't be like me. Be really careful to get the right one. Not the kind for sanding wood in a shop.

When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.
"Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic." - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
Honored Contributor
Posts: 37,548
Registered: ‎05-22-2016

@FlowerBear wrote:

a friend gave me a pkg with 2 in it recently.  but i am not sure how old they are so not sure about using them.   i wrote 3m but they said yes they are good for using during the virus but they didnt help on knowing how old the masks are!  they do not have the vent on them.


 

 

@FlowerBear 

The n95 masks do not expire. However, the elastic bands on them may become weak or brittle when they get old then the elastic breaks or loses elasticity. In that case you can layer a regular mask on top of it to hold it in place.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,545
Registered: ‎03-24-2018

Everyone I read on this site a few months ago about N95 masks expiring! That is why I asked about this. I had not ever thought they would and so I wanted to be sure. Guess it is not true and Im happy about that. Thank you.