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The recycling of surgical face masks as sound porous absorbers: Preliminary evaluation.
Maderuelo-Sanz, Rubén; Acedo-Fuentes, Patricia; García-Cobos, Francisco José; Sánchez-Delgado, Francisco José; Mota-López, María Isabel; Meneses-Rodríguez, Juan Miguel.
  • Maderuelo-Sanz R; Instituto Tecnológico de Rocas Ornamentales y Materiales de Construcción, INTROMAC, Campus Universidad de Extremadura, 10071 Cáceres, Spain. Electronic address: ruben.maderuelo@org.juntaex.es.
  • Acedo-Fuentes P; Instituto Tecnológico de Rocas Ornamentales y Materiales de Construcción, INTROMAC, Campus Universidad de Extremadura, 10071 Cáceres, Spain.
  • García-Cobos FJ; Instituto Tecnológico de Rocas Ornamentales y Materiales de Construcción, INTROMAC, Campus Universidad de Extremadura, 10071 Cáceres, Spain.
  • Sánchez-Delgado FJ; Instituto Tecnológico de Rocas Ornamentales y Materiales de Construcción, INTROMAC, Campus Universidad de Extremadura, 10071 Cáceres, Spain.
  • Mota-López MI; Instituto Tecnológico de Rocas Ornamentales y Materiales de Construcción, INTROMAC, Campus Universidad de Extremadura, 10071 Cáceres, Spain.
  • Meneses-Rodríguez JM; Instituto Tecnológico de Rocas Ornamentales y Materiales de Construcción, INTROMAC, Campus Universidad de Extremadura, 10071 Cáceres, Spain.
Sci Total Environ ; 786: 147461, 2021 Sep 10.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1213514
ABSTRACT
This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the acoustic efficiency of plastic surgical face masks. Since the very high number of disposable masks being used globally on a daily basis to face the Covid19 pandemic is posing new environmental risks, mainly connected to improper disposal, any possible improvements in the management of this waste stream is very important. In this work their potential use as sound porous absorber is discussed. Surgical face masks are mainly made of polypropylene fibers which show good acoustical properties. Their porous structure was studied through the measurement of some non-acoustic properties bulk density, fiber diameter, porosity, flow resistivity and tortuosity. Moreover, the sound absorption performance of samples, made of scrapped face masks, with different thicknesses was evaluated using an impedance tube according to ISO 10534-2. The results obtained from the sound absorption spectra and two single indexes, Noise Reduction Coefficient and Sound Absorption Average showed a high sound absorption value over a frequency range of interest. Finally, the sound absorption spectra obtained for surgical face masks were compared with those obtained for fibrous materials currently used in building sector, suggesting that this fibrous waste could act as a possible substitute to traditional ones.
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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: COVID-19 / Masks Type of study: Experimental Studies / Prognostic study Limits: Humans Language: English Journal: Sci Total Environ Year: 2021 Document Type: Article

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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: COVID-19 / Masks Type of study: Experimental Studies / Prognostic study Limits: Humans Language: English Journal: Sci Total Environ Year: 2021 Document Type: Article