Respiratory Protective Equipment

Birkner, Jeffrey S.; Colton, Craig E.

doi:10.1002/0471435139.hyg032.pub2

Patty's Industrial Hygiene 2011

DOI: 10.1002/0471435139.hyg032.pub2

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Respiratory Protective Equipment

Jeffrey S. Birkner¹,

Craig E. Colton²

Abstract: The respirators have been used for almost 2000 years and the genesis of their technical development is actually the mid‐19th century. The Bureau of Mines in 1919 initiated the first respirator certification program in the United States and certified their first respirator. In 1995, NIOSH proclaimed new certification regulations. The study finds that the respiratory protective equipment (RPE) should be used only when all higher priority control steps are not technically or financially feasible. Thus, RPE contin… Show more

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Cited by 4 publications

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“…Devices carrying a NIOSH certification have shown the ability to remove 95% or more of particles of the conventional most-penetrating particle size (MPPS), 0.3 µm (with larger or smaller particles being removed more efficiently). 9 However, the MPPS for FFRs employing electret media (media possessing an electrical charge) is smaller. 10 The mechanisms used by FFRs to remove particles from the air are well understood.…”

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confidence: 99%

Challenge of N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators with Viable H1N1 Influenza Aerosols

Harnish

Heimbuch

Husband

et al. 2013

Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol.

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OBJECTIVE. Specification of appropriate personal protective equipment for respiratory protection against influenza is somewhat controversial. In a clinical environment, N95 filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) are often recommended for respiratory protection against infectious aerosols. This study evaluates the ability of N95 FFRs to capture viable H1N1 influenza aerosols. METHODs. Five N95 FFR models were challenged with aerosolized viable H1N1 influenza and inert polystyrene latex particles at continuous flow rates of 85 and 170 liters per minute. Virus was assayed using Madin-Darby canine kidney cells to determine the median tissue culture infective dose (TCID50). Aerosols were generated using a Collison nebulizer containing H1N1 influenza virus at 1 x 10(8) TCID50/mL. To determine filtration efficiency, viable sampling was performed upstream and downstream of the FFR. RESULTS. N95 FFRs filtered 0.8-μm particles of both H1N1 influenza and inert origins with more than 95% efficiency. With the exception of 1 model, no statistically significant difference in filtration performance was observed between influenza and inert particles of similar size. Although statistically significant differences were observed for 2 models when comparing the 2 flow rates, the differences have no significance to protection. CONCLUSIONS. This study empirically demonstrates that a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health-approved N95 FFR captures viable H1N1 influenza aerosols as well as or better than its N95 rating, suggesting that a properly fitted FFR reduces inhalation exposure to airborne influenza virus. This study also provides evidence that filtration efficiency is based primarily on particle size rather than the nature of the particle's origin.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenge of N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators with Viable H1N1 Influenza Aerosols

Harnish

Heimbuch

Husband

et al. 2013

Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol.

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B95: A new respirator for health care personnel

Gosch¹,

Shaffer

Eagan³

et al. 2013

American Journal of Infection Control

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Occupational exposure to asbestos in the steel industry (1972–2006)

Paustenbach,

Stevens,

Tuttle

et al. 2023

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

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Background Historically, the use of asbestos in steelmaking has been limited to a few applications. Due to its physical and chemical properties, asbestos was not necessary or suitable for most purposes in a steel mill. The few applications where asbestos were used (i.e., certain gaskets, brakes, protective cloth, refractory materials, insulation materials, and hot top products) were replaced by alternative materials as they became available. Objective We discuss historical uses of asbestos in steel manufacturing and the associated airborne asbestos concentrations collected at sixteen U. S. Steel facilities between 1972 and 2006. Methods A total of 495 personal airborne asbestos samples from the U. S. Steel industrial hygiene records were analyzed across four time periods corresponding to changes in the OSHA permissible exposure limit (PEL) for asbestos. 68% of the samples (n = 337) were considered representative of an employee’s workday. The remaining samples (n = 158) represented task samples. Samples were grouped by facility, department, and job category within the four time periods. Results The average fiber concentrations measured for each facility and department over time were below the contemporaneous OSHA PEL. The mean representative workday asbestos air concentration from 1972 and 1975 was 1.09 f/cc. The mean representative workday concentration decreased to 0.13 f/cc between 1976 and 1985, then decreased again to 0.02 f/cc between 1986 and 1993 and 0.03 f/cc between 1994 and 2006. For task samples, the mean air concentration from 1972 to 1975 was 3.29 f/cc. The mean task sample concentration decreased to 0.48 f/cc between 1976 and 1985, then decreased again to 0.01 f/cc between 1986 and 1993 and 0.03 f/cc between 1994 and 2006. Only eleven out of the 495 samples (2.2%), for both task and representative workday samples, were in exceedance of the contemporaneous PEL(as an 8-hour TWA), ten of which occurred prior to 1978. Eight of these eleven PEL exceeding samples were task samples. Of the remaining three representative workday samples, two had unknown sampling times. Impact This paper presents an analysis of all the available personal sampling data for airborne asbestos across 16 facilities of the U. S. Steel Corporation between 1972 and 2006. This dataset has previously never been publicly shared or analyzed. It represents one of the more complete industrial hygiene datasets from a corporation to be presented in a scientific journal and, due to the similarities in the processes at each mill, it should reflect analogous exposures throughout the steelmaking industry in the United States. One of the benefits of presenting these data is that it also provides insight into where asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) were used in the steel making process. This is just one example of a large firm that released information that had previously remained in file cabinets for decades. We believe that another benefit of publishing this paper is that it may encourage the largest firms in industry to assemble and analyze their industrial hygiene data to benefit the occupational hygiene, medical, and epidemiology communities. This can support future epidemiology studies and improve the design of future industrial hygiene programs.

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Respiratory Protective Equipment

Cited by 4 publications

References 59 publications

Challenge of N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators with Viable H1N1 Influenza Aerosols

Challenge of N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators with Viable H1N1 Influenza Aerosols

B95: A new respirator for health care personnel

Occupational exposure to asbestos in the steel industry (1972–2006)

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