MONTREAL -- A Montreal company has received Health Canada approval to being making a reusable, recyclable mask they claim is more efficient than the vaunted N95.
The mask is the invention of surgeon and Dorma Filtration CEO Rene Caissie.
“I felt under-protected like most of my colleagues at the hospital,” he said. “I felt there wasn't enough personal protective equipment available and I decided I'd build a few items to better protect myself and my family.”
Caissie's design, the Dorma 99, goes into production in Sherbrooke at the end of the week, using Quebec materials.
The doctor claims the mask filters 99 per cent of particles in the air, while the N95 filters just 95 per cent.
“It had to be comfortable, breathe easily and also with the National Research Council of Canada, we really wanted to build a mask that was eco-friendly,” he said.
Unlike the N95, which is single-use, Caissie said his mask can be safely sterilized up to 30 times.
“The mask is sprayed with hydrogen peroxide three per cent and then it's put in an ozone chamber, like a TS03, which is a cold sterilizer that's available in a lot of hospital,” he said.
After it's used up, the Dorma 99 can be recycled, according to Caissie.
“In a day I can use 10 or 15 masks and I see my entire team doing the same thing,” he said. “It's a lot of masks, same thing goes for a while. I've been practicing for 12 years and it kind of hits you at one point and, especially now, that we're using a lot of masks.”
A package of 30 N05 masks can be $150 but Caissie said his Dorma 99 will cost $85 in stores and will be available at a bulk discount for hospitals.
The doctor said he hopes to be producing 1 million masks per month by December.
