I’m getting to the point where I need to restock. I remember there was an uproar a couple months back when RFK Jr ended NIOSH? Did this change where anyone bought masks. I had been buying the 3m auras before, is this still considered the gold standard?
https://www.amazon.com/Aura-Particulate-Respirator-Mask-White/dp/B08J1THV9G
This is a link for the 440 count box from Amazon’s liquidation seller Woot. It should be noted that they will be expired or almost expiring but that’s more of a NIOSH standard thing or something rather an indication of their continued function. Most mask blocs are buying warehouse liquidations of expired masks. The electrostatic filtration aspect should still be healthy, what you need to watch out for is degradation of the elastic and nose foam.
Yeah those are the ones I got. They are fine. Note they have rubber bands rather than elastic. I’ve had trouble in the past with the bands breaking, so I thought maybe these would break even more easily. But I haven’t had trouble.
If the rubber band breaks it’s usually at the very end, so you can fix the mask by prying out the staple that holds in that end of the band, and using an office stapler to reconnect the end of the band. This is a slightly time consuming procedure so you’ll want to carry spare masks with you if you go somewhere with exposure. Then fix any broken ones when you get home.