An Alabama-based textile manufacturer HomTex, has received FDA Emergency Use Authorization to make level 1 surgical masks, greenlighting its entry into the US government and medical Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) markets.

The company manufactures 3-ply disposable masks and reusable cloth masks and plans to soon produce NIOSH N-95 masks in a new plant in Selma, Alabama. HomTex has the largest capacity in the US to produce 100 percent made-in-America masks with facilities in Cullman and Mobile, Alabama; Tennessee; South Carolina; and North Carolina.

While hospitals and governments have been struggling to provide safe PPE for Americans, defective and fraudulent masks, often made in China, have flooded the US market. According to the Associated Press, federal law enforcement has seized 10 million counterfeit N95 masks alone, and the US Customs and Border Patrol announced in June 2020 that it seized 750,000 counterfeit face masks in 86 incidents. Due to emergency procurement rules put in place during the pandemic, China and other bad actors have access to the US market that otherwise would be banned. By selling defective and counterfeit masks at rock-bottom prices, fraudsters are exploiting US buyers with unsafe PPE and undermining US-made manufacturing.