PPE expirations

[Marauder2003]

Saw a YouTube vid by Canadian Rebel news about face masks and gowns expiring.

Why do they expire? My TP does not expire. My copier paper does not expire.

[duenor]

Probably liability. Everything deteriorates over time - did you know that infant car seats have expiration dates too?

Ammo has shelf life as well. I don't know what the regs for the military are, but I'm sure part of the reason why surplus ammo exists is because militaries don't want to stockpile old ammo that isn't 100% reliable.

However, I have 100 year old cartridges that I would bet money on going bang, and win pretty much every time. Even crappy pakistan cordite 303 will usually go bang. totally not the same thing, but just illustrating.

Unless you store your masks in horrible environments, they are probably fine for way longer than their "sell by" date. it's just melt blow polypropolene and that stuff is designed to be stable over a very broad climate range.

[Scota4570]

Hospitals, laboratories, and others have signed on to ISO accreditation. To do that you need, among a gillion requirement, to have all supplies be " traceable". To be traceable supplies need an ID or lot # and to have an expiration date. IT does not matter that there is nothing that deteriorated in the item when it is thrown away. This keeps all stock in new condition and makes it necessary to be constantly buying new stuff while disposing of perfectly good old stuff. For example, distilled water ampules and non sterile cotton swabs are sealed in plastic but must be thrown away when "expired". This make the cost of doing business very high. It helps eliminate competition.

I would not hesitate to buy "expired" masks for my personal use.

[EMR]

[Scota4570]

I know what I am talking about, this is not second hand or speculation. I never disposed of any "expired" items that were unservicable. The "expiration" dates are are often ridiculously short, sometimes less than one year. It is a problem with some suppliers. They send items that are almost expired so you have to buy them again right away.