Functional or Fake? Mask Fit Test of Generic Copy of 3M Respirator

Are the generic copies of 3M 6200 respirators you can buy on Amazon safe? They look just like the 3M originals, but do they actually work? I put one I got free from the Vine program to the test using a mask fit testing machine.

The copies you can buy on Amazon are part for part replicas of the 3M originals - so faithful they appear to be molded directly off of 3M masks. But appearances can be deceptive. It's possible to make a replica that has all the appearance of the original, but is more like a movie prop and doesn't have the functionality. And with respirator-grade masks and filters, tiny details can make a huge difference in performance.

Real 3M respirators are NIOSH approved, and NIOSH has strict requirements and audits for consistent quality control to insure that you get a mask that performs identically to the ones approved by NIOSH. Generic respirators have none of that. You could get a great mask one day and a completely different one that is an utter failure the next. And that is the most important point - this video is only testing one of these masks. If you buy one, the one you get could be better or worse than the one I tested.

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In the video I'm using a PortaCount mask fit testing machine that gives scores in "Fit Factor".

Fit factor is the the concentration of ambient particles outside the mask divided by the concentration inside the mask. So if there were 1000 particles outside and 10 inside, 1000 divided by 10 is 100, so the air inside the mask is 100 times cleaner and the fit factor is 100.

The Portacount counts particles from .02 to 1 micron in size.