From: Ying Dong <yingburkedong@gmail.com> Sent: Sunday, April 19, 2020 12:28 PM To: Ruth Ryals Subject: Do you need masks? Hi Ruth - can you forward this message to our neighborhood mailing list? Thanks! Dear neighbors,  For those who don’t know me, I live on Buena Vista Park with my husband and daughter. In the past few weeks, through friends and connections in China, I have acquired some supply of face masks.  We have far more than what my own family would need. I would like to share those masks with you. They are more effective than the cloth masks as they are made with polypropylene materials. Figuring five masks for each person, I have enough for about 100 people. I don’t know how many people are on this mailing list, but I will start with the group that is most vulnerable. If someone in your house is over 65 years old, or has underlying medical challenges, and you are interested, please email me. After 3 days, if there are still any left, I will give the rest to everyone else.  My email: yingburkedong@gmail.com  In the email please tell me how many people in your household need the masks. Either you can come pick them up from our porch or I can drop them off at yours. They are free.  Be safe! Ying 11 BVP If you worry about competing with hospital resources The masks I am giving out look like surgical masks but they are not.  Surgical masks, often used in the hospitals, come with higher filtration standards. They are good at stopping particles as small as 0.1 micrometer. My masks are one grade lower, but they are still good enough to protect you and me going to the stores.  We have also given masks to the City of Cambridge for their essential workers, in case you worry about that too. Here are some safety features of the masks, and some tips for testing their effectiveness: Waterproof: To test, hold the mask by the ear-loop like a bucket, then pour some water inside.  The water should not penetrate. Resistant to air flow: To test, put the mask on your face as you normally do, then hold a candle in front of the mask and try to blow the candle--you should not be able to.  Filtration efficiency >= 95% with 1 micrometer bacteria/particles. The middle layer of the mask is made of a fabric called MeltBlown nonwoven, which is responsible for the filtration. The best way to test at home is to put a lighter to the middle layer. You should see the fabric melting without catching fire.  ReplyForward