This effort will establish design and performance requirements for masks appropriate for the general public that provide inhalation protection from particulates. Recent and reoccurring disasters, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the frequent and large wildfires in the western United States, have highlighted major gaps in the nation’s system for ensuring timely access to and guidance on appropriate respiratory protection for the public, including vulnerable populations. The frameworks identified in a recent National Academies Consensus Study Report, “Respiratory Protection for the Public and Workers Without Respiratory Protection Programs at their Workplaces” Respiratory Protection for the Public and Workers without Respiratory Protection Programs at their Workplaces | National Academies will be used to help guide this effort.
