This is not what I said.

N95 is a written standard and it only protects inhalation (read it at the CDC…they made the standard). Yes, you can buy N95 masks that protect in both directions but seeing “N95” does not guarantee that at all.

Which, by the way, is what you just noted without saying it. What you are saying is a teminological ‘norm’ and of course in todays world norms are very probably not there. I hope you realize you are promoting this.

Buyer beware. If someone writes advertising a mask as a N95 medical mask, he cannot be held resonsible if the word “medical” did not mean what you thought it should mean. In a professional environment, people can know, but they cannot always complain.

Having been a participant and chair and creator of a number of ANSI/ISO (etc) technical standards since the early 1980s, this kind of lying is unfortunately all too common. First the people on the technical committees should not be forced by their business masters to write specs that leave open issues they know are important, and second the government, especially, should not demur to the businesses interests in cost containment of a penny or two which is what this was.