Taking advantage?*Luxembourg advert lists protective mask for €180

Romain Van Dyck

Unscrupulous vendors have attempted to profit from widespread panic and shortages of protective masks. Here is another reminder on the correct use and limits of these masks.

Update: 12.03.2020 07:59

Un prix qui fait tousser, vu sur un site de petites annonces au Luxembourg...

As coronavirus spreads across the globe, sales of protective face masks and hand sanitiser have soared. As always, there are a number of people hoping to take advantage of the shortages and make a profit for themselves.

The above advert appeared on Facebook via the page “Bonnes affaires au Luxembourg”, offering a single mask for the bargain price of...180 euros.

The ad has since been updated to confirm the mask has been sold, but not before provoking outrage from users denouncing the blatant attempt at profiting from the hysteria, or calling the advert a bad joke.

However, the ridiculously elevated price is not the only issue here.

REMINDER: PROTECTIVE MASKS

It is essential to remember that protective masks are primarily aimed at the sick and at caregivers. They will not help if you are not unwell or in frequent contact with those who are ill. The use of masks as a preventative measure has been confirmed as useless by various authorities, including the French Ministry of Health, for the reasons below:

The cheapest surgical masks available have gaps which would allow the virus to enter one’s respiratory tract. If you are already sick, these masks have filters to avoid projecting infectious droplets, but the ventilation, again, does not guarantee optimal protection.

Filter masks (type FFP2 and FFP3, nicknamed “duck masks”) adapt better to the face and have a more efficient filtering device for bacteria and aerosols (theoretically 92% of particles for FFP2 and 98% of particles for FFP3 ). However, their effectiveness can quickly diminish, especially since the general public is not trained to use them properly. The American Center for Disease Control gives a simple example of the difficulty some people could face (infographic below) - a beard can ruin the effectiveness of the mask:

These filter masks have a very limited lifespan : for an FFP2 mask, the protection duration varies between three and eight hours. This means daily protection could become expensive.

On the subject of cost, the price of surgical masks usually varies from 20 to 50 cents per unit, but this price has soared in recent times, according to Le Monde. Respiratory protection masks of the FFP type are obviously more expensive, costing up to 20 euros for some models.

In short, spending 180 euros for an FFP3 mask seems like a bad investment: the price is far too high for a product whose lifespan is ridiculous, which is not recommended for the general public, and whose origin is uncertain.

If you want to protect yourself from the virus, it will be more efficient and less costly to comply with basic hygiene rules, including this golden rule: wash your hands thoroughly!