News Forum - Most face masks on sale in Thailand do not meet industry quality standards

[Thaiger]

The Thailand Consumer Council says that out of 60 face masks available in the country, only a fifth have passed quality tests. According to a Bangkok Post report, the TCC has called on the Thai Industrial Standards Institute to mandate the same safety standards for disposable face masks, which is currently a voluntary requirement. In July, the TCC randomly chose 60 face mask brands for testing. They included 14 types of disposable masks, 27 brands of surgical masks, and 19 makes of N95 masks. All masks were tested on air permeability, pressure difference, and filter efficiency of 0.1 micron and […]

The story Most face masks on sale in Thailand do not meet industry quality standards as seen on Thaiger News.

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[gazmo16]

Don't tell me, someone in the Government just happens to know a man who can sell good ones to you for fair price ?

but keep it hush hush 

[Manu]

So 80% of these maks we are legally imposed to wear in cars, on bikes, on the beach, outdoors on empty streets etc...etc... are no good. So most of the time we are legally imposed to wear a useless thing in completely useless situations. It gets better and better...

[gazmo16]

Guess we should be grateful we found out now only 6 months after the tests .  I'd hate to be getting anything substandard given to me in connection with the C19.

could have been worse you might have told us some of the vaccines were no good. 

wait a minute ..................

 

[NCC1701A]

when videos of people dropping dead in the streets of communist China started showing up on Twitter in Dec 2019 I bought a dozen 3M N95 masks in Bangkok. 

If you have never worn a real 3M N95 mask they are very uncomfortable. The elastic straps are very tight and the mask itself is thick and cuts down your air intake.  

[vvdb.fr]

you have to buy good masks. Your health depends on it. and wear it for any occasion.

what's wrong is that you can market stuff that looks like a mask and isn't. fines should be numerous and property confiscations should make headlines.

[Stonker]

1 hour ago, Manu said:

So 80% of these maks we are legally imposed to wear in cars, on bikes, on the beach, outdoors on empty streets etc...etc... are no good. So most of the time we are legally imposed to wear a useless thing in completely useless situations. It gets better and better...

No, that's not remotely what it says.

Not "no good" or "useless", but not as good as they could be.

97.47% isn't as good as 99%, but it's a lot better than 0% which is what you're saying.

 

[Stonker]

1 hour ago, NCC1701A said:

when videos of people dropping dead in the streets of communist China started showing up on Twitter in Dec 2019 I bought a dozen 3M N95 masks in Bangkok. 

If you have never worn a real 3M N95 mask they are very uncomfortable. The elastic straps are very tight and the mask itself is thick and cuts down your air intake.  

Ditto - more restrictive, more uncomfortable, and more people wearing them incorrectly, and more expensive so changed less frequently.

It's six of one and half a dozen of the other.

[HolyCowCm]

At least they are not recycled like the rubber glover some were sending to the USA.

[LoongFred]

13 minutes ago, Stonker said:

Ditto - more restrictive, more uncomfortable, and more people wearing them incorrectly, and more expensive so changed less frequently.

It's six of one and half a dozen of the other.

The masks most commonly used are surgical masks. They are intended to prevent the person wearing it from spreading germs to others. These masks are not designed to prevent the wearer from infection. Surgical masks are cheap and don't significant affect air flow. The N 95 masks that are more protective to the wearer need to be fitted and tested for air flow ,on the user. There are different sizes and fitting is critical. As stated they can be uncomfortable to wear. 

Wearing surgical mask have a slight protective effect for the user, but (as stated) primarily prevent transmission to others. In mass use they can be useful to others if you unknowingly are infected. 

As a mass public health plan they might help overall transmission and raise awareness of covid disease.

[nobusinessofurs]

 

1 hour ago, vvdb.fr said:

you have to buy good masks. Your health depends on it. and wear it for any occasion.

what's wrong is that you can market stuff that looks like a mask and isn't. fines should be numerous and property confiscations should make he adlines.

I sat in stands with 150,000 other screaming fans, no mask wearers. No break outs of covid, no sickness.....nothing. Maybe it was because all of us were vaccinated, or maybe it was because People decided to live their lives without the Interference of a fear mongering Government.

By all means wear your constrictive mask, me I'll be wearing what I can breathe in just to appease the Government in which I'm a guest of. After all I am vaccinated, so no worries

 

[Stonker]

9 minutes ago, nobusinessofurs said:

I'll be wearing what I can breathe in just to appease the Government in which I'm a guest of.

Not because half the country aren't as fortunate as you (assuming you're here in Thailand) and aren't vaccinated yet, so wearing a mask helps them?

 

11 minutes ago, nobusinessofurs said:

After all I am vaccinated, so no worries.

Not for you, evidently.

[Sarisin]

Anything to do with most being made in the home of the virus- CHINA?

[Guevara]

45 minutes ago, Sarisin said:

Anything to do with most being made in the home of the virus- CHINA?

My guess is yes, made in China. I recall an article approx 18 months ago on TT saying Thailand was expecting a delivery of millions of masks from China.

[nobusinessofurs]

52 minutes ago, Stonker said:

Not because half the country aren't as fortunate as you (assuming you're here in Thailand) and aren't vaccinated yet, so wearing a mask helps them?

Not for you, evidently.

You completely missed the point, the mask is USELESS.....

[Manu]

2 hours ago, Stonker said:

No, that's not remotely what it says.

Not "no good" or "useless", but not as good as they could be.

97.47% isn't as good as 99%, but it's a lot better than 0% which is what you're saying.

You have "not remotely" read the article properly. It says:

Quote

 

According to Dr Paiboon Choungthong from the TCC, only 3 out of the 14 disposable masks achieved the required standards. The 3 brands are LOC, Medicare Plus, and Iris Ohyama. However, Paiboon says Iris Ohyama overstated its filter quality, with testing showed it was 97.47% efficient, as opposed to the claimed 99%.

 

Amongst the 3 TTC masks out of 14 that have achieved the required standards (the other 11 are useless then), one is called Ohyama ... the 97.47% is for that one.

Edited December 1, 2021 by Manu

[Stonker]

33 minutes ago, nobusinessofurs said:

You completely missed the point, the mask is USELESS.....

Well,that's your view - no scientists in any position of responsibility or authority agree with you, though.

I wonder why that is ...

[Stonker]

23 minutes ago, Manu said:

You have "not remotely" read the article properly. It says:

Amongst the 3 TTC masks out of 14 that have achieved the required standards (the other 11 are useless then), one is called Ohyama ... the 97.47% is for that one.

Yes, that is what it says - that most masks don't meet Thai Industrial Standards Institute standards.

Where, exactly, does it say that they're "useless" ?

[Manu]

13 minutes ago, Stonker said:

Well,that's your view - no scientists in any position of responsibility or authority agree with you, though.

I wonder why that is ...

https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-6817

[Jason]

I had already planned to bring my own.....

[Manu]

38 minutes ago, Stonker said:

Yes, that is what it says - that most masks don't meet Thai Industrial Standards Institute standards.

Where, exactly, does it say that they're "useless" ?

So no admiting you did not read the article property in the first place then. Instead, that answer... I give up.

[LoongFred]

The Thailand consumer council TCC is not a recognized ngo to the best of my knowledge. They appear to be a group that promotes their own interest without little or no government oversite. There is also the Thailand consumer protection agency, which is part of the government. Because the names are similar there can be confusion. With the TCC one should look at who is paying for their study and if it serves self interests. Just because it was published in a newspaper doesn't assure credibility. 

[Stonker]

3 hours ago, Manu said:

So no admiting you did not read the article property in the first place then. Instead, that answer... I give up.

No, I read the article and it says exactly what I said - it doesn't suggest in any way that masks are "useless" or "no good".

The example I gave was simply an example of how close they may come - 97.47% instead of 99%, while you're claiming 0%.

[Stonker]

4 hours ago, Manu said:

https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-6817

Maybe it would help if you'd read your own link.

Mass / mandatory mask wearing isn't intended to protect the wearer, as has been explained countless times, but to protect others from the wearer.

The study in your link only looks at the protection masks give the wearer, when wearing a mask among those who aren't masked - it simply didn't study whether masks protected others at all.

That's stated very clearly near the start of the report:

" Objective:

To assess whether recommending surgical mask use outside the home reduces wearers' risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection in a setting where masks were uncommon and not among recommended public health measures."

Your link is of no more relevance to the issue than a study of flea collars for dogs.

 

 

[AussieBob]

7 minutes ago, Stonker said:

Maybe it would help if you'd read your own link.

Mass / mandatory mask wearing isn't intended to protect the wearer, as has been explained countless times, but to protect others from the wearer.

The study in your link only looks at the protection masks give the wearer, when wearing a mask among those who aren't masked - it simply didn't study whether masks protected others at all.

That's stated very clearly near the start of the report:

" Objective:

To assess whether recommending surgical mask use outside the home reduces wearers' risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection in a setting where masks were uncommon and not among recommended public health measures."

Your link is of no more relevance to the issue than a study of flea collars for dogs.

Masks help slow the spread of a virus/cold from an infected person to others through breathing, coughing, sneezing and talking.

Vaccinations do not stop people getting a virus - they help stop people being infected/contagious for a longer period, and they help prevent them getting very sick. 

Read and repeat a hundred times before going home - anyone that doesnt understand what Stonker and I and so many others are saying.  This time I am typing very slowly to make it easier to read:

 

Masks help slow the spread of a virus/cold from an infected person to others through breathing, coughing, sneezing and talking.

Vaccinations do not stop people getting a virus - they help stop people being infected/contagious for a longer period, and they help prevent them getting very sick.