Community Face Coverings

We have evaluated several manufactures and select a manufacture from Greece.

Fabric mask has lately become fashion. If you check fashion magazines or window displays for fashion stores, you will often find fancy fabric masks in all sorts of colours, patterns and draping. In addition, private citizens also produce homemade face coverings.

CWA 17553:2020

The reason for wearing a face mask, is to protect yourself or other from spreading viruses. Please note that fabric face masks are not intended for use by people that have symptoms for bacterial or viral infections. Fabric masks are also most suitable for adults. Children under 3 years of age shall not wear a fabric mask. Children between 3 and 12 years, should only ware a fabric mask under supervision of adults. A fabric face mask is made of fabric that makes it both able to filter particles, but also being able to be washed and reused. This is unique for fabric face masks, but this also require some specific conditions to be met.

CWA 17553:2020 (CEN Workshop Agreement) is a European standard that in details specifies and makes recommendations for how to produce a fabric mask or which criteria that such masks shall meet. Some of the key elements you need to take into consideration are:

• Visual inspection - Tears, harness detachment, ill-fit, deformation, etc.

• Size - Adapted to the morphology of the average user

• Materials – should withstand handling and wear throughout the claimed lifetime

• Cleaning – if reusable, shall withstand at least 5 cleaning cycles according to EN ISO 6330

• Surface condition of the parts - No sharp edges or burrs

• Filtration efficiency of the material – Checked against the two determined levels (90% and 70%), based on the efficacy to filtrate particles (3 ± 0.5 μm)

• Head harness – Self-adjusting, elastic or with laces, over the head or ears and designed to fit the average user, the harness should be robust enough while avoiding discomfort. It shall withstand 5 donning and doffing cycles by at least three subjects with different morphologies.

• Breathing resistance and air permeability – The material shall not exceed a differential pressure ≤ 70 Pa/cm² (correlates to 80 l/s/m²) for a vacuum pressure of 100 Pa.

Marking

If you are making your own community face covering, you do not need to mark your mask. You should however carefully ready chapter Annex A (Specific recommendations for Do It Yourself (DIY) making).

If you buy a CWA 17553:2020 mask, these are the requirements for marking of the mask/packing inserts:

• The producer name, trademark, or other means of identification

• The postal or web address at which the producer can be contacted

• A means of product identification e.g. batch number

• The designation “Community face coverings CWA” followed by the version of the document or national specification designation followed by CWA

• The filtration efficiency level:

  • "level 90%" or "level 70%" for filtration efficiency to particles around to 3 (± 0,5) μm;

or,

• "obtained value%" for filtration efficiency to particles different than 3 (± 0,5) μm

• The filtration efficiency test method used i.e. standard or national test method identification reference

• The type of community face coverings i.e. "reusable" or "disposable"

• The type of users i.e. "child" or "adult"

• The age appropriate restriction warning i.e. "Not suitable for children under 3 years of age."

• The storage conditions

National regulations may require additional information. The text shall be printed in the official language(s) of the country or region of the user.

When you buy a fabric mask from Provida Medical AS, you can be sure that we only sell masks that are CWA 17553:2020 certified and that have all certifications required for such a product.