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| Respirators and Face Masks; Origins | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 3 2011, 06:00 AM (500 Views) | |
| yass | Feb 3 2011, 06:00 AM Post #1 |
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When Leonardo da Vinci suggested that a piece of cloth dipped in water could protect sailors from a toxic weapon, I am sure he had no idea that it would be the beginning of respirators and face masks! Air is an essential component of life, and there are situations where this important component might become scarce. It is for times like this that various inventors spent days and nights creating respirators and face masks. Respirators – Background It was in the 16th century that Leonardo Da Vinci suggested that a finely-woven cloth dipped in water could protect sailors from a toxic weapon that he had designed. It was again in 1799 that Alexander von Humboldt introduced a primitive respirator when he was working as a mining engineer in Prussia. Most of the early respirators were made up of a bag that was placed completely over the head and fastened around the throat with windows which enabled the wearer to see. Some of these respirators were made up of rubber while others of rubberized and impregnated fabric. In most of the cases a tank of compressed air or a reservoir of air under slight pressure was carried by the wearer. This tank supplied the wearer with necessary breathing air. There were other devices too, some of which were provided with means for the absorption of carbon dioxide in exhaled air and the re breathing of the same air many times while other devices were fitted with valves for the exhalation of used air. Lewis P. Haslett was granted the first US patent for an air purifying respirator in 1848. His creation, the "Haslett’s Lung Protector" filtered dust from the air with the help of one-way clapper valves and a filter made of moistened wool or a similar porous substance. It was this patent that gave way to a long string of other patents for air purifying devices, including patents for the use of cotton fibers as a filtering medium, for limestone and charcoal absorption of poisonous vapors as also for improvements on the eyepiece and eyepiece assembly. It was in 1879 that Hutson Hurd patented a cup-shaped mask. This mask became widespread in industrial use. Things were changing across the Atlantic too where a Scottish chemist, named John Stenhouse was investigating the power of charcoal and its various forms in order to capture and hold large volumes of gas. John Stenhouse put the knowledge he had about science in building one of the first respirators that was able to remove toxic gases from the air. This invention paved the way for activated charcoal to become the most widely used filter for respirators. John Tyndall, a British Physicist improved upon Stenhouse’s mask by adding a filter of cotton wool saturated with charcoal, glycerin and lime and invented a "fireman’s respirator." http://www.buzzle.com/articles/respirators-and-face-masks.html |
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| yass | Jun 16 2013, 07:15 PM Post #2 |
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Recent protests in Turkey:
[note - I magnified the original image for a closer inspection of the handmade mask] I did a quick image search looking for the 'pollution mask' used in the handmade mask and there were relatively few of that particular type, but what I did note with that type and others was that activated charcoal (or referred to as activated carbon) was used in them as the agent for filtering out impurities and toxic agents. Of course, expensive models are quite fancy but the fact if the matter is that the material ingredients consist of a protective covering designed for (contaminated) air to pass through the activated charcoal filter before entering into the lungs. Here are some that are similar:  Caption: Activated carbon cloth acc http://noblehouserealestate.com/admin/anti-pollution-mask A poorly translated website. It appears that the model used in the handmade Turkish mask is among these at top right:  http://www.supertekscafform.com/safety-masks.html All models can be 'recharged' by the following procedure: How to Recharge:
I'm sure I read the exact same application (boiling and leaving out in the sun) for renewing used activated charcoal, at a website which exclusively sells it. I only wish I could do the same with my Brita filters only I'm afraid the plastic housing might melt (warp) when boiling. I was a little nervous about ordering from that site just because it made char out of bone as well as coconut shells and I felt unsure about what I'd be getting. Interestingly enough, though, I put bone in a search there and found some specific applications it is useful for:
The filter masks are said to be made of activated carbon fabric. I did some checking and starting at ebay then expanded to a net search and I could find no activated carbon fabric at retail level though I found it at manufacturer's: 
http://www.ecvv.com/product/2589309.html Then, there is this variety of activated carbon mask and a common enough variety in the search results. 
Source (kind of long url) These come in a variety of outer finishes and can be found on ebay. The small round cartridge seen in the former masks and that of the Turkish demonstrator appear ti be filled with activated charcoal granules. I should note that activated charcoal powder comes in different sizes (grains, course/fine powder). The grains in a Britta filter have a coarser granularity than the powder I bought from the bulk section of a natural foods store which was a very fine powder and very messy! It would stain about anything that it came in contact with black including water. The finest of the powder puffs up like a mist of black smoke over the water, the water turns jet black, and a layer of murky black sheen floats on the surface. So, depending on the application one would want to choose the grain size carefully. |
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8:43 AM Jul 13