Watch out for counterfeit face masks

There is some concern that the free N95 and KN95 masks distributed to Fairfax County employees might be counterfeit.

Fake masks are a nationwide concern, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC reports 60 percent of the N95s it evaluated in 2020 and 2021 were counterfeit.

An employee who works in a Fairfax County library said the KN95 masks he received don’t meet some of the criteria for authenticity as described by the CDC. Most important, they don’t have the required GB 2626-2019 stamp indicating they passed the test standard.

Throughout the pandemic, the Fairfax County Department of Procurement and Materials “has been taking appropriate measures to verify the authenticity of masks and other PPE the county procures,” said spokesperson Erin Julius.

That agency has given out nearly 250,000 KN95s since April 2020 and has another 450,000 available for distribution, Julius said. The county purchased masks from multiple sources since the start of the pandemic.

The ones currently being distributed are from Golden Valley Health LLC. They are given to any county agency that requests them for their employees.

Authentic N95 masks are approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

According to the CDC, an N95 might be counterfeit if it doesn’t say NIOSH on it, if NIOSH is spelled incorrectly, if it doesn’t have an approval number, or it has ear loops instead of headbands. NIOSH hasn’t approved N95s for children, so if a kids’ mask has a NIOSH stamp, it’s counterfeit.

KN95 masks are made in China, so if a KN95 has a NIOSH stamp, it’s counterfeit. KN95s are also supposed to be stamped with GB 2626-2019. 

NIOSH-approved masks filter out 95 percent of particles in the air; authentic KN95s are considered just as effective if worn properly.

It’s especially important to have a legitimate mask during the current highly contagious Omicron wave. The problem with counterfeit masks, according to the CDC, is that they give people a false sense of security.

Public agencies throughout the U.S. have unknowingly given out counterfeit masks throughout the pandemic.

The student newspaper at American University in D.C. reported this month that the school distributed fake KN95s to students. New York State officials are recalling 250,000 masks they recently distributed to counties for schools, libraries, and other public facilities after many of the masks were found to be counterfeit.

The Washington State Hospital Association and the University of Washington are suing a Texas company for selling them millions of dollars’ worth of counterfeit N95 masks early in the pandemic. A Rhode Island-based packaging and container company is suing the W.B. Mason office supply company for selling counterfeit N95 masks with a fake 3M trademark.

According to The Hill, three Democratic senators are asking the Department of Justice to investigate the reports on fake masks.