Pigs, skin, gut and cut. Whats your method..

[Oldbloke]

Lol. Explain it to westy, he has had it, not me. I can only take the horse to the water!

[Aussier]

Oldbloke, any idea if the disposable masks lose there effectiveness over the years? Fibres break down and lose their integrity etc.?

I've got a dozen disposable P2 masks that have been in the garage for what must be 10 years.

Thoughts?

[Hucka]

Particulate..... for real??? It's not ebola season is it??

I think we've circled back around to Bird flu at the moment?

Once the buzz on that dies down I'm sure we'll move on to the next "scare" again.

[Oldbloke]

Oldbloke, any idea if the disposable masks lose there effectiveness over the years? Fibres break down and lose their integrity etc.?

I've got a dozen disposable P2 masks that have been in the garage for what must be 10 years.

Thoughts?

Im not sure, but if theyare still sealed in the original packageing, un damaged and look new my guess it they would be ok. Is ther a use by date? Of course ensure a good seal around the edge af the mask. If they leak it reduces the effectvness .

If you dress out a lot of game it would make sense to take some basic hygiene precautions ( gloves, p2 mask) in my view. But if you shoot 1 or 2 goats a year the risk would be much lower. In many ways its a numbers game. Looks like good info at the following link.

http://www.health.qld.gov.au/cdcg/index/qfever.asp#ip

[Aussier]

Im not sure, but if theyare still sealed in the original packageing, un damaged and look new my guess it they would be ok. Is ther a use by date? Of course ensure a good seal around the edge af the mask. If they leak it reduces the effectvness .

No used by date on the masks, perhaps on the cardboard of the pack but that's gone.

Kept in a sealed plastic bag and look 'as new' so probably all right.

Nothing to suggest otherwise, just thought I'd ask in case you were in the know.

[Oldbloke]

Sealed from the air certainly assists in extending the life of them. Most likely ok to use, if they look good. Can you compare them with a new identical one?

[Aussier]

I could except I don't want to buy another pack to do so obviously... Been years without using these ones.

Looking at them again they look just about pristine. I'm comfortable continuing to use them I've decided.

[Kelix]

For you two, I found this from 'Safe-T-Tech' who do respiratory protection gear.

Filter Life Expectancy
It is difficult to determine the exact life expectancy of a filter cartridge. This is because of a number of variable factors. These include the wearers breathing rate, the characteristics and level of contaminant, the length of time a user is exposed to a contaminant. Environmental conditions should also be taken into account such as temperature and humidity which could also affect a wearers breathing rate. Saturated or used cartridges will leak trace amounts of contaminants to the wearer which may be detected via odour, taste, and/or irritation – if a contaminant can be detected by any of these means by the user, then filter cartridges should be changed immediately.

Seems only use causes their filters to degrade, no mention of time passing doing it.

[Oldbloke]

These are slightly different to a cartridge filter but the same should be true. I would use them, better than nothing. No use to you sitting in the shed.

[Aussier]

Thanks Kelix.

Yeah OB, going ahead with them.