What is Community Fit Testing? Why are you doing this?

• Community Fit Testing is a grassroots effort to help everyone find the best respiratory protection possible for them. We use both portacount machines to test and troubleshoot fit, and DIY qualitative methods to test fit.
• We believe everyone should have access to well-fitting and effective PPE (personal protective equipment) to protect themselves from all airborne dangers, including viral and bacterial pathogens (SARS-CoV-2, tuberculosis, measles, etc), air pollution (wildfire smoke, microplastics, etc), and other particles.

This sounds cool! How can I help more people in the community get fit tested?

• Community fit testing efforts are all on a volunteer basis, if you are able, please consider paying it forward to help offset supply costs and acquire additional PortaCounts for more communities to run free testing! Donation info here.
• You can volunteer to be a PortaCount tester, or event organizer! Helping to organize an event is the best and fastest way to bring testing to your community. Join our Discord server to learn more about fit testing, respirators, and clean air, or request or volunteer for community fit testing for your area: https://discord.gg/ya7YbThTpy

What kinds of masks can be tested?

• Any disposable head strap respirator (e.g. N95, FFP2/3, N99, N100).

• Ear loop respirators (e.g. KN95, KF94) will only be tested on the portacount if they have passed a QLFT (qualitative fit test). Instructions here

• Elastomeric P100 respirators, if you provide the adapters, or the local team has adapters (inquire with the local community testing team)

• Cloth, surgical/medical or other non-respirator masks WILL NOT be tested as these will fail and do not provide adequate protection.

• Note on facial hair: It is also recommended to be clean-shaven where the respirator will seal against your skin, facial hair will cause leaks in the seal. If you have a thick beard, you may consider the Singh-Thatta Technique.

What is QNFT portacount fit testing?

• The PortaCount machine measures the number of particles inside and outside of a respirator mask, and can then tell us how well your mask is filtering on your face. The particles it can measure range from 0.02um to greater than 1um, bioaerosols typically fall in a range between 0.1um and 5um, with the highest concentration of COVID RNA contained in 1um-3um aerosols. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36331347/)
• We will be using N99 mode, which tests both the filter and the seal.
• A recommended minimum passing fit factor (FF) is 100, meaning the air inside your mask is 100 times cleaner than outside, or 99% filtration efficacy [1 - (1 / 100) = 99%] for all measurable particle sizes.

Is this the same as the OSHA testing hospitals and businesses do?

• We will be doing a modified protocol that still gives us a high confidence in the performance of the mask being tested for a general range of performance as there will be variation depending on ambient particle levels and other factors.
• The results are informational and do not replace OSHA testing and are not to be used in place of OSHA testing in an occupational setting.

Is QNFT this different than DIY fit testing?

• Yes, QNFT (quantitative fit testing) uses a machine to measure particle levels and DIY fit testing using aerosolized saccharin or bitrex is QLFT (qualitative fit testing), using our sense of taste to detect inward leakage.