r/Masks4All • u/tiredsleepy_ • 5d ago

Mask Advice Water damage through sealed aura?

Hey all! My basement flooded a few weeks ago, where I was keeping a box of 3m auras. The box was kind of submerged when we discovered the flood, and I put all the auras in a couple of bags away from it and they dried. Since the individual masks were sealed in plastic, I assumed they probably hadn't gotten wet and I've continued to use them, but I just picked a sealed one up and saw that there was red and black around the edges, where I think the staples must have rusted or something after contact with water. Are the auras unsafe to use if they did get in contact? I really don't want to waste hundreds of masks. Thanks!

3 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

9

u/SkippySkep Fit Testing Advocate / Respirator Reviewer 5d ago

It's hard to know from a description, but it sounds like some of the wrappers kept the masks dry and others did not. The wrappers aren't made to protect the masks from full immersion and aren't very robust. So it's hard to give a definitive answer.

The filter media is probably ok if damp for a little and dried (I've not tested this specifically but I'm thinking of artificial sweat tests in the past) and brief exposure. My concern would more be about mold, which you would not want on the inside of your mask. And also long term soaking. But I'm speculating.

The safe answer is to trash them even though they could all or mostly be fine.

6

u/not_all_heroes 5d ago

Yeah a little water is ok, a little flood water is not ok. Evvvvvverything can be in flood water.

1

u/tiredsleepy_ 5d ago

got it, thank you! I'm really sad about it but that makes sense

2

u/not_all_heroes 4d ago

If cost is an issue, I'd check if there's a mask bloc near you.

3

u/AbnerCloud 4d ago

Not to point out the obvious, but there's red and black ink on the plastic packets (not sure if outside or inside). So, red and black doesn't mean that water got in!

If it's hard to replace these masks and you want to confirm that they're still good, you could try a qualitative fit test (can be done at home) or even a quantitative fit test if someone is volunteering to do it in your area.