>>11117318>>11117347>Why cant i just Wear a maskBecause a mask rarely works as advertised: the seal between the mask and your face is rarely good, so what you're actually doing is breathing mostly unfiltered air through the gaps around the mask.
What respirator does is give you a proper seal so you are actually breathing through the filter, which can be a P100 chemical filter or just a regular dust filter that does nothing, but at least you wouldn't be breathing in particles of paint.
