> I was told that the vent made the N95 ineffective. Obviously wrong, I was certainly protected... You were protected, but the people around you weren't. The

> I was told that the vent made the N95 ineffective. Obviously wrong, I was certainly protected... You were protected, but the people around you weren't. The vent is a one-way valve. It blocks air from coming in, so it has to filter through the mask material. It allows air to go out freely with no filtering. So a vented N95 mask protects the wearer from external particles, but it does not protect others from particles exhaled by the wearer. Vented N95 masks are meant for places like construction sites that may have dust and toxic particles in the air. They protect you when you breathe in, but let you breathe out freely. They are not suited for preventing the spread of disease.