Tool Review: RZ Masks
Emily Murphy Bicking
Tool Review: RZ Mask
Posted by Emily Murphy on August 21, 2012 10:04 pm under Reviews, Tools
Michèle Hastings posted on her blog earlier this summer about a much more comfortable mask that she was testing out. A more comfortable mask… how intriguing. And less expensive too? Now I am hooked. I had some further questions about the mask so I contacted the company RZ Masks through their Facebook page. They were very prompt with their responses and offered to send me a free mask in exchange for a review. There was no agreement about what I would say, this review is just my opinion.
I have been using the Survivair respirator mask for years. It’s $65 for the mask. $15 for organic vapor filters. A few bucks for replacement dust filters. I have always been diligent about replacing the filters; keeping it in a sealed bag when not in use; always wear it when spraying glazes or mixing glazing, slips and clay; and using organic vapor filters when adding soda to the soda kiln. I don’t want to mess around with my lungs, they are the only ones I have. But I also do something that we all have done: just a quick sweep up of some trimmings without a mask. I’ll just hold my breath for the few seconds that it will take and then step out of the room. Right?
There is a story that has haunted me that I have always shared with my students. I worked with a woman years and years ago that had worked as a tech mixing up clay for a semester. The students were kind of on their own without much oversight. And it turns out, without much safety information. She never wore a mask and did not realize that she needed to. OSHA came in to the program and shut things down until they were brought up to snuff. They gave her a lung capacity test. It turns out that after mixing clay for 1 semester, she had the lung capacity of a 20 year smoker. Just like some people are very sensitive to smoking, some people are very sensitive to silica. Someone might smoke for 20 years and be ok. Someone else for 2 years and later develop lung cancer. Someone might mix clay their whole career without a mask and show little effect from it. But someone else might only mix for a few months and be permanently damaged from it. The trouble is that we don’t know if we are sensitive or not to these things until it is too late. It’s best to err on the side of caution.
So this story has really stuck with me and I want to have 100% compliance in my studio for mask wearing during anything that produces silica dust. This is where RZ Masks comes in. . I would never have thought to buy a mask from them, the branding seems to be mostly for off-roading and dirt bikers. Their website has a broader list of uses: *Agriculture: farming, home gardening; *Cold Weather: hockey, skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, ice fishing; *Wilderness: hunting, camping; *Off Road: ATV, UTV, mountain biking, 4×4, motocross, rock crawler, flat truck, enduro; *Pollution: construction, smoke, painting, allergies, mold, radon, pet dander. A long list, for sure. But no mention of ceramics, silica, glazes, etc… they are looking to expand their market, but their site has not reflected this yet. That is where some of the concerns come in. If you’re like me, you want to know that you’re being protected. I asked RZ Mask a whole bunch of questions and got back some informative answers that I will share with you.
EM: How do you wash the mask:
RZ: The mask can be handwashed with soap and warm water. We don’t recommend washing the filters as water deteriorates the active carbon in the filters quickly. Upon wearing the mask in dusty conditions, it doesnt hurt to air it out for a few hours especially if any moisture or sweat builds up, just to dry and air it out.
EM: How often do you change the filter?
RZ:We recommend the filters be changed every 12 (hours) of use. If your only wearing the mask for 20 minutes at a time, then the filter will last significantly longer. You will be able to tell when the filter is wearing out due to filtration efficiency decreasing.
EM: Does the filter protect against organic vapors such as those from soda and salt kilns?
RZ: As for the organic vapors, we have not had the filters tested against them. The active carbon has been proven to absorb many chemicals and particulates (see the following link regarding active carbon absorbing: http://www.customairandwater.com/filters.air.carbon.htm ) As I cannot guarantee the filter to be 100% effective in the organic fumes and vapors I cautiously recommend you to use the mask in light exposure to monitor efficiency.
EM: Does the mask filter out silica dust?
RZ: The filter will be able to filtrate silica dust. http://eaglegordon.hubpages.com/hub/Silicosis in this article under the SAFETY FOR SILICA tab the filters are listed. We utilize the N99 Active Carbon filter
Here are my thoughts:
–The mask is only $29.95. I think a lot of people who are not “serious” potters would be more likely to purchase this mask than the higher priced one. And heck, a lot of serious potters and other clay folks would be likely to buy this too for the lower price tag. It is definitely going to be better than a paper mask. And it seems like it is quite good at doing what it is supposed to do- filter out fine particles. It’s nice to think that price isn’t going to influence a safety decision, but it often does.
–Another price related bonus: many of us work in more than one place. Teaching, home studio, rented studio, regularly firing at a friend’s studio… and we forget our masks. You could keep one in your studio and one where you teach. Or in your car for all your silica on the go needs.
–You need to change your filters regularly. But you should be doing that with your current respirator too. More often than you probably are. The mask comes with 2 sets of filters. And you can purchase additional sets at $7/ 3 extra filters.
–It is much less stuffy and hot than the plastic respirator mask. I first tested it out when we were in the middle of a heatwave here in Minneapolis (hovering around 100 degrees). It doesn’t matter how great your mask is if you don’t wear it all the time. So comfort really does matter.
–The mask is as comfortable as any mask can be. I have been spraying glazes in my studio this week. I know when I wear my big respirator, I am often counting down the minutes until I can take it off. But honestly, when glazing this afternoon, I didn’t even think about it much. The fit is snug. It is neoprene (like a scuba suit). My husband, who has a pretty full beard, tried it out and felt like it was comfortable and actually fit as closely as possible. Michèle noted similar results when tested out by her bearded partner.
–If you are wondering about specific chemicals, this list is helpful: http://www.customairandwater.com/filters.air.carbon.htm. I also encourage you to ask the company direct questions. I did it via FB message and I always got a pretty fast and helpful response. Here is their contact info. I would think it would be helpful to the company to have potters asking questions so they can begin to understand our needs, and hopefully start marketing them directly to us with information pertaining to us on their website.
–The masks are rated to N99.
NIOSH Filters (NIOSH federal respiratory regulations 42 CFR Part 84 )
- N95 – filters 95% of particles of .3 microns
- N99 – filters 99% of particles of .3 microns.
- N100 – filters 99.97% of particles of .3 microns.
–This article on Ceramics Arts Daily by Jeff Zamek explains HEPA filters which helped me understand the N99 rating a bit better.
Every respirator has some type of filter to trap particles. One of the most effective filters is a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter. They were developed more than thirty years ago by the Hepa Corporation. The name has since become generic and many companies now produce this classification of filters.
For many years, HEPA filters have been the standard for the industry. They have a 99.97% efficiency rating, which means they filter 99.97% of solid particles down to a 0.3-micron size. Some particles at 0.3 microns do not have enough weight to go through the filter, while particles bigger than 0.3 microns have a larger mass, causing them to travel with greater velocity to the filter. HEPA-type filters are recommended whenever heavy metals, such as, chrome, cadmium, vanadium and cobalt are in the work environment.
According the the CAD article, “Most pottery studios and commercial clay mixing operations will require an N95 respirator or an N100 respirator.” So the N99 rating would be sufficient for most people working in clay. Zamek also has a recommendation for N100 paper masks that would be suitable for anyone working with lead or cadmium. But the highest rating is not needed for most studio use.
–I looked up the spec sheets on Survivair filters. It was tough to look through (the PDF was not linkable). But it looks like their dust filters are N95. Is that right?
Well, that is a whole bunch of technical stuff thrown at you. After doing this research, I am feeling pretty good about the RZ Mask and I will continue to use it. And I pledge to stop going mask free, even if I am cleaning up some trimmings really quickly. If I need organic vapor protection, I will use the Survivair respirator with OV filters. Have you tried it? What do you think? I don’t think that you should take my word. I’m not an expert, but I like to do my research. Read through the information and the links. Do your own research… and share with us what you find!
A quick ps: And I nearly forgot to mention all of the crazy colors and patterns that it comes it. Note: “premium” does not indicated a different mask- just a “premium” design. Same mask, same filter, same price. Oh, and I got the “regular” size and it fits perfectly. They also sent me a youth size, but it was too small for me.
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Emily Murphy
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website: http://emilymurphy.com
blog: http://potteryblog.com
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Minneapolis, MN