Independent testing has revealed that the N95 face masks sold by Chemist Warehouse let large amounts of virus-carrying particles flow right through them.
"The TGA are fast-tracking and allowing masks to be sold in Australia, but they are not doing the checks," said president of the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists Andrew Orfanos.
"So a lot of companies that are trying to sell respirators in Australia are trying to use the line 'it's TGA approved' – and that does not mean anything." Chemist Warehouse supplied certificates claiming to show their masks had been certified by the US FDA, the TGA and had a European Union "CE" mark., and certifies the mask to a different standard.alerted Officeworks to KN95 masks – a Chinese standard equivalent to N95 - it was selling that several mask experts identified as fake.
A company spokeswoman initially said Officeworks was "satisfied that these masks meet the appropriate Chinese KN95 standard". However, the masks were removed from sale. The company said they would go back on sale, but as of Friday that had not happened. After occupational hygienist Kate Cole pointed out that Bunnings appeared to be selling fake KN95 masks, the company said they had been tested and shown to be authentic by independent laboratories.had them reviewed by the representatives from the Australian Institute of Health and Safety, the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists, and Richard Donarski, national compliance director for CertMark and one of Australia's most-respected mask experts.
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