Mask prototype developed to better protect warfighters against biological agents

The Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC), the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, the Battle Memorial Institute, and Priority Designs recently partnered to produce an improved protective mask against biological agents for soldiers in the field.

The new concept will seek to address the issues seen where a warfighter’s mask and hood meet one another, which has been vulnerable to chemical agent exposure in the past. According to ECBC, the new design offers significant protection capability for the improvement of aerosol protection when paired with a hood and the current generation’s gas mask, the M50.

The concept features a second skin that sits atop of the M50 mask respirator and offers a variety of improvements including added ridges and an enhanced interface for the hood.

The collaborative effort also led to the development of several prototypes for an upgraded hood that can work in conjunction with the M50’s second skin.

“What we are seeing through all of the rigorous testing is a noteworthy proof of concept aerosol protection improvement with a projected equivalent time to don the gear compared with the current mask and hood,” Dan Barker, ECBC project leader for the second skin, said. “Collaborative research efforts between laboratories are key as [personal protective equipment] item research and development occurs across disparate labs.”