What does BFE mean in PREVENTION

Bacterial Filtration Efficiency (BFE) is a measure of the effectiveness of a material in filtering out bacteria from air or liquid that passes through it. The BFE rating refers to the percentage of bacteria smaller than a certain size that are removed from the air or liquid during testing.

Bacterial Filtration Efficiency (BFE) is determined by measuring the number of viable bacteria passing through a filter material before and after exposure. A sample of aerosolized or liquid-borne pathogens, such as E. coli, is passed through the filter material, and then compared to an untreated sample. If more active bacteria are present in the treated sample than in the untreated sample, then the BFE rating is calculated by taking the ratio of treated to untreated bacteria populations.

The most commonly used materials for measuring bacterial filtration efficiency include cotton fabrics, paper filters, cloth masks, and even electronic air filters.

Yes. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) has established a standard test procedure for determining Bacterial Filtration Efficiency which involves exposing samples to aerosols containing specific species of organisms such as Staphylococcus epidermidis or Bacillus subtilis var niger.

It depends on how often you use them and in what context they are being used. For instance, if you are using them to protect healthcare workers from airborne infectious diseases like SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, it’s important that you regularly test them to make sure your protection levels remain sufficient against such viruses. Otherwise, if you’re just using them in other contexts where airborne infectious diseases are not likely involved such as regular household dust particles protection etc., then less frequent testing may suffice.

Yes. In healthcare settings, regulators like Federal Drug Administration (FDA) require medical products such as respirators masks to meet certain performance standards with respect to bacterial filtration efficiency rating in order to be sold/used in clinical settings.

Factors that can influence the bacterial filtration efficiency ratings include type of filter material used; distance between pores; pressure drop across filter; particle size; moisture content; temperature; and relative humidity.