According to Statistics Poland, According to the Central Statistical Office, in June this year, over 5 million medical masks and 6.3 million other masks protecting against SARS-CoV-2 infection were manufactured in Poland. Since the number of new infections is relatively low and there is no obligation to wear masks outdoors, the demand for masks has decreased. However, the expected fourth wave of the pandemic in the autumn and the new Delta variant may cause that quality masks that meet Polish and European standards will again become a rare commodity. This is especially the case as the awareness of Poles concerning filtration materials and those from which the masks are produced has increased over the last year. “We can see that customers are looking for better forms of protection,” says Konrad Sulak, Eng, PhD from Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Biopolymers and Chemical Fibres, which started the production of high quality protective masks last spring.
“During the first wave of COVID-19, Polish production of protective masks proved to be important. At that time, we had tremendous problems with availability of masks, which resulted from the fact that relatively few masks of this type were manufactured in Poland and most were imported from abroad. In the subsequent waves of the pandemic, a lot of masks appeared on the market that claimed to meet European standards, but this was only an information printed on the packaging — these products were not certified according to Polish standards,” says Wojciech Ligier from the Łukasiewicz Research Network – Tele and Radio Research Institute to the Newseria news agency.
The number of new COVID-19 infections in Poland is so far relatively low, and there is no obligation to protect the nose and mouth outdoors, so the demand for protective masks is also lower. However, there is still a risk of a fourth wave in the autumn, which could be caused by the large number of unvaccinated people and the Delta variant spreading in Europe.
“Based on last year's experience, it can be assumed that there will be an increase in the number of infections in autumn and winter, which of course will again increase the demand for masks protecting against the virus,” says Konrad Sulak, Eng, PhD, head of the Polymers and Synthetic Fibres Team at the Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Biopolymers and Chemical Fibres.
In the period from January to June 2021, nearly 51.5 million medical masks and 68.5 million other protective masks were manufactured in Poland. In June only, 5 million and 6.3 million of them were manufactured, respectively, but as recently as March or April, these figures were two or three times higher. Between March and the end of December 2020, Polish production reached 43.5 million medical masks and 176 million other protective masks.
Last spring, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for masks and other personal protective equipment was the highest on record, and all such products - even those that did not meet standards and did not provide adequate protection against the new virus - disappeared from the market at lightning speed. Since then, however, the awareness of Poles concerning antiviral protection or filtering materials and those from which the masks are made has increased.
"We see that customers look for better forms of protection,” says Konrad Sulak. "A significant demand has developed in the market for FFP2 type masks, which provide a much higher level of protection, and we will certainly see this demand increase in the coming months.”
“FFP3 type protective masks are the most desirable. This is the highest class, which best protects against coronavirus. Especially in the version without an exhalation valve, because it then protects both the user and people around,” adds Wojciech Ligier. “FFP2 and the lowest class FFP1 are of course better than no mask at all or a mask of ordinary material, although they do not protect as well as FFP3. Besides, we also have medical masks, which mainly protect people around, but the user is protected in a moderate degree”.
In terms of protective properties, the material from which the mask is manufactured plays a significant role. Most often it is a meltblown nonwoven fabric, namely a pneumothermal fabric, which must be characterized by an appropriate level of filtration and airflow.
“This is a typical filter material composed of a number of microfibers of very small diameter. In this case, we have fibers with a diameter of even less than 1 micrometer. Therefore, this material enables the capture of particles with low diameters and provides the user with high protection against droplet-borne virus,” explains the expert of the Łukasiewicz – Institute of Biopolymers and Chemical Fibres. “FFP2 masks are composed of several layers, with the outer layers being the structural layers. Spunbond nonwoven fabric is used in their production, which is characterized by high performance.”
Both meltblown and spunbond nonwovens are modern materials derived from thermoplastic polymers. Their production process is low-cost, making them relevant in many industries. They are also often used as individual materials with low weight and relatively high durability.
“A good mask should combine, on one hand, high filtration efficiency and, on the other hand, provide free breathing. In other words: discomfort resulting from the use of this protective measure should be reduced to the minimum. The use of the mask itself in some way restricts our freedom of breathing. The best masks, however, are characterized by the fact that this limitation is possibly the smallest, maximally eliminated while maintaining high level of protection and filtration efficiency,” says Konrad Sulak.
Already in March last year, Łukasiewicz Research Network - Tele and Radio Research Institute has undertaken to develop machines for production of medical masks. For this purpose, it has established cooperation with the Institute of Biopolymers and Chemical Fibres which has used its experience in manufacturing of nonwoven fabrics for production of masks. The prototype of the technological line and the machine ready for production was developed in just a month and a half. Already in June last year, the first production line was delivered to Łukasiewicz - Institute of Biopolymers and Chemical Fibres, which, apart from developing the nonwoven fabric production process, arranged the production of masks.
