How to distinguish between civilian masks and medical masks?

There are many standards for "civilian mask" and "medical mask", but the most important difference is that civilian masks generally emphasize "particulate matter" filtration efficiency, while medical masks generally emphasize "bacteria filtration efficiency".

1. KN95 Mask: "KN" is actually just a code name, and the code name "KN" is specific to China, which refers to a type of mask "designed to filter non-oily particles only" (there is a corresponding type of mask "designed to filter non-oily and oily particles" named KP, such as KP95 masks, but it is not common in daily life). The national standard implemented is GB2626, which is a standard for "civil mask". In this standard, three grades are defined according to the different filtration efficiency of particulate matter:

KN90: ≥90%

KN95: ≥95%

KN100: ≥99.97%

Therefore, when generally speaking of "KN95 mask" means: a non-medical mask with "particulate matter" filtering efficiency ≥95% produced according to the Chinese civil mask standard GB2626. (Special note: This has nothing to do with American N95 masks. The N95 is a non-medical mask that is manufactured according to the U.S. NIOSH standard and has a filtration efficiency of 95% or more for particulate matter. There are also N99 (≥99%) and N100 (≥99.7%) two higher filtration levels.

2. FFP level. Most people think that FFP2 means civil use and FFP3 means medical use, actually it is not true. FFP rating is only the "particulate matter" filtration rating in the European "Civil Mask Testing Standard" EN149. There are three filtration efficiencies:

FFP1(P1) : ≥80%

FFP2(P2): ≥94%

FFP3(P3): ≥99%

In other words, both FFP2 and FFP3 are "particulate filter levels" that can be measured for civilian and medical purposes and marked if passed.

What is the standard for medical masks in Europe? It's EN14683. There are no filtration grades in this standard, only mask grades, which are:

Type I

Type II

Type II R