While KF94 and KN95 FFE is compromised considerably by increasing beard length, they proved better options than procedure and cotton face masks. Though variable, N95 respirators offer the best respiratory protection for bearded men. Marked performance improvements were observed with an exercise band worn over the beard. Procedure and cotton masks had poor performance even on bare skin (10–30% FFE) that did not change appreciably with beard length. KF94 and KN95 masks lost up to 40% of their FFE. Although N95 respirators showed considerable variability among bearded men, they had the highest FFE for beard lengths up to 10 mm. The effect of an exercise band covering the beard on FFE was also tested. A detailed examination was conducted for beard lengths between 0 and 10 mm (0.5 mm increments). A comparison using N95 respirators was carried out in shaven and bearded men. We examined the fitted filtration efficiency (FFE) of five commonly worn protective face masks as a function of beard length following the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration Quantitative Fit Test: N95 (respirator), KF94 and KN95, surgical/procedure, and cloth masks. Workplace regulations prohibit beards with N95 respirators, but there is little information on the effect of beards with face masks worn by the public for protection against SARS-CoV-2. Globally, a large percentage of men keep a beard at least occasionally.
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