A review of face masks from Mercury Drug

It goes without saying that Manila is an extremely polluted city. And if our respiratory track isn’t being assaulted by smoke from vehicles or smokers, many Filipinos do not have the habit of covering their mouths when they cough or sneeze in public.
However, not all masks are created equal. The cloth mask with funky designs that we buy from the bangketa may not be good enough to filter pollutants and germs. In my desire to protect myself from the unbreathable air of Taft Avenue that I breathe anyway four days a week on my way to work, over the past few weeks I have been trying different masks from our favorite pharmacy slash grocery store, Mercury Drug.

Classic Surgical Masks. It used to be that wearing surgical masks in public carries a certain stigma, and people judge you as though you are carrying a deadly, contagious disease. Nowadays, surgical masks are a relatively common sight in the streets of Manila. They’re extremely cheap and comes in white, blue and black. I have tried the black one since I fell for the claim that it contains “activated carbon”, but frankly, as soon as I put one on, my faith that it actually filters immediately dissolved away. Also, aren’t surgical masks supposed to be used for, well, surgery, and not for everyday protection from pollution? I can be wrong, though. Anyway, the mask is very loose on my face, possibly and partly because of my tiny nose. I tried tying a knot on the straps to make it tight, but air still gets in from the sides, which renders them completely useless and ineffective for pollution.

MC N95 Mask. The N95 rating means that the mask filters 95% of particles of a certain size. It costs 65 pesos and has a large internal volume that it looks like something painters or carpenters would wear. The package recommends smaller masks for better fit, but Mercury Drug only carries one size that only fits large faces. Unlike surgical masks, the straps on this one do not attach to the ears, but rather around the back of the head, This makes it a bit inconvenient to put on, but it’s also more secure and avoids the pain that comes with thin straps rubbing against the ears. Wearing this mask makes you look you’re in for some serious anti-pollution business, like you’re telling people that there’s no way you’re breathing Manila’s icky, yucky air.  But alas, it’s too large and doesn’t have a good seal. I was, however, hesitant to throw the mask away since it’s not really cheap. So I removed the aluminum nose strip as well as the strap and wore the mask under an old cloth face mask I got from Daiso. This resolves all the issues I have with the mask, but a mask under another mask isn’t really comfortable. Within three days of wearing the area around my nose became visibly gray. So it actually worked. If only it came in sizes that fit cute Filipinos faces.

MC N95

RespoKare Active Protection Mask. This mask is really expensive – 384 pesos for a pack containing three masks. It has this fancy, sticker pollution indicator thing that tells you when to replace the mask. Fashion-conscious mask wearers may actually be put off by its bulky look when worn, and it hardly looks like the one of the package. That said, I like that it’s green, has comfortable straps and a foam seal inside, in addition to an aluminum strip outside for better fit. However, unlike the N95 mask that showed discoloration after being worn for a week, this one hardly changed at all. It maintained its bright, yellow green color, which makes me doubt if it actually filters.

A nice but imperfect attempt by RespoKare

3M Nexcare Pollution and Haze Respirator KN95. Now this one is a mask that’s heaven sent. It’s costs 96 pesos a piece and has an N95 rating. It has an aluminum strip outside that you pinch for better fit, and a foam strip inside. It has the best fit among the masks I’ve tried and it even goes under the chin for better seal. Most importantly, it had the worst discoloration. After three days it was more discolored than MC N95. The picture below shows that mask after being worn for five days. I mean, just look at it. It’s both a sad reminder of how polluted Manila’s air is, and somewhat a relief that the mask actually works. I highly recommended this mask.

3M Nexcare

This mask looks good, too.

Note (May 5, 2020): I can't believe it has been more than a year since I wrote this post. And it has been rendered useless by the fact that none of the masks I mentioned here are available anywhere.