Efficiency of N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators and Surgical Masks Against Airborne Particles of Viral Size Range: Tests with Human Subjects

Details

• Personal Author:
  Grinshpun SA ; Lee, Stephen A. ; Reponen T
• Description:
  Airborne viruses have drawn the world's attention after the outbreaks of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) occurred in Asia. Some studies have shown that corona virus might have caused SARS since it was isolated from patients' body fluids and respiratory secretions. To prevent people from the airborne SARS infection, N95 filtering facepiece respirators and surgical masks have been recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization. At the same time, no sufficient information is available on the protection characteristics of these devices against aerosol particles of the viral size range. We have recently developed a personal sampling system for measuring the protection provided by respirators against airborne dust and microorganisms ranging from 0.7 to 10 microm in aerodynamic diameter. In this study, we have modified the system so that it can be utilized to conduct performance tests with stimulant particles of the viral size range i.e., 0.02 to 0.3 microm. The experiments were carried out using this modified facility with six human subjects while the subjects were performing exercises following the OSHA fit testing protocol (29 CFR 1910.134). The results showed that there is no significant effect of human activity on the efficiency of these respirators against the viral simulants. The mean protection factors (34.5 +/- 20.6) of N95 filtering facepiece respirators were four to eight times higher than those of surgical masks (6.0 +/- 3.3). No particle size dependence of the protection factor provided by N95 filtering facepiece respirators and surgical masks was observed with-in the tested particle size range. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Air Pollutants, Occupational Communicable Diseases Microbiology Occupational Health Respiratory Protective Devices Safety Viral Diseases
• Keywords:
  Aerosol Particles Airborne Particles Infection Control Infectious Diseases Microorganisms Respirators Respiratory Protection Respiratory Protective Equipment Viral Diseases Viral Infections
• Publisher:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  57
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20029270
• Citation:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 21-26, 2005, Anaheim, California. Fairfax, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 2005 May; :57
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2005
• NORA Priority Area:
  Research Tools and Approaches: Control Technology and Personal Protective Equipment
• Performing Organization:
  University of Cincinnati
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20010601
• Source Full Name:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 21-26, 2005, Anaheim, California
• End Date:
  20110731
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5aa67428801b818d41e51167c7fe2b12ccc96a6b46d82cf669f4aba90bf897b8bcf18d7b4de40d2c404dd584f4dff2f4ebd4f00e7057d90b92d5eb3432da73b6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/190298/cdc_190298_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.22 MB ]