LG Designed a Fancy Face Mask—But Is It Effective? Here's What Experts Say
There have been several trends in face masks since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Copper masks were a thing for a while and, of course, there are mask accessories like mask chains. Now, there’s a new face mask trend, and it’s completely different from anything you’ve seen before: It’s a wearable air purifier…for your face.
The super-charged mask comes courtesy of electronics and appliance company LG. The mask, which is called the Puricare Wearable Air Purifier, will be available by the end of the year, LG says in a press release. “LG PuriCare Wearable Air Purifier resolves the dilemma of homemade masks being of inconsistent quality and disposal masks being in short supply,” the release says. The mask looks like something straight out of the future, with a molded plastic exterior that completely covers the lower half of a person's face.
It’s understandable that you might have some—or a lot of—questions about this new mask. Here’s what you need to know.
How does the Puricare Wearable Air Purifier work, exactly?
The PuriCare Wearable Air Purifier uses two H13 HEPA filters, similar to the filters used in the company’s home air purifier products, to filter in air before it goes into your mouth.
The purifier fits snugly on the user’s face to minimize air leakage around the nose and chin, and is lightweight, with a battery life of up to eight hours of operation on the mask’s low mode and two hours on its high mode.
LG stops short of claiming this can prevent someone from contracting COVID-19, though. Instead, the company talks about how the personal air purifier will “allows users to take in clean, filtered air.” But, of course, most people wear a mask these days to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
How much does the LG mask cost?
LG hasn’t revealed that yet, and a publicist for the brand didn’t respond to Prevention.com’s request for comment.
What do doctors think about the LG mask?
They’re not scrambling to try to get one. “I think it’s probably unnecessary and doesn’t offer much protection,” Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Again, LG isn’t claiming that the mask will help prevent the spread of COVID-19, but it’s only natural that people will make the leap.
Dr. Adalja is worried that the mask will “give people a false sense of protection” and make them “think that they’re impervious to being infected.” This only underscores more research into the best types of masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19, he says.
“There’s a tendency to go above and beyond, but we don’t know if this will give you any benefit,” Dr. Adalja says. “The danger is that people will spend a lot of money on this kind of thing and then get infected because they think they have some kind of special device that renders them impervious,” he says.
Raymond Casciari, M.D., a pulmonologist at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, Calif., is mainly concerned about the fit of the mask. "Most masks fail where they leak," he says. "The mask will only be effective to where it creates a leak-free environment." But he also has concerns about how it will feel secured over your ears and if this is even needed. "I don't know that this is necessary," he says. "I would not be a buyer of this."
William Schaffner, M.D., an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, also thinks this mask can be a hard sell for the general public. “People are unlikely to wear something elaborate,” he says. “Many of them don’t even want to wear a simple mask.” As it stands now, “simplicity, ease, and cheapness are the hallmarks for getting people to wear masks,” Dr. Schaffner says, and it doesn’t seem like this new LG mask will tick off all of those boxes.
LG is expected to reveal more about the masks in a virtual showroom this week as part of IFA 2020, a consumer electronics and home appliance trade show.
You Might Also Like
