Are exhalation valves on N95 filtering facepiece respirators beneficial at low-moderate work rates: an overview

Details

• Personal Author:
  Roberge RJ
• Description:
  Exhalation valves (EVs) are touted as useful in dissipating humidity, heat, and carbon dioxide from the dead space of N95 filtering facepiece respirators and decreasing exhalation resistance, thereby making the respirator more comfortable and less physiologically demanding. Despite decades of use, there is limited research on the psychophysiological impact of EVs on the wearer at the current, low-moderate work rates of many workers. The available literature indicates that past and current EVs on the market decrease exhalation resistance to a variable degree and may improve dead space heat dissipation and, consequently, the temperature of the skin covered by the respirator. EVs have little substantial effect on dead space humidity, respiratory rate, heart rate, core temperature, speech intelligibility, or dead space oxygen and carbon dioxide levels at the aforementioned work rates. The studies also indicate that EVs may impact comfort and tolerance when N95 filtering facepiece respirators are worn for extended periods or at high work rates. Because comfort and tolerance impact respirator use compliance and, by extension, protection, more research into the psychophysiological impact of EVs on wearers and the development of new EVs tailored for low-moderate work rates are warranted. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Hot Temperature Humidity Mental Health Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Respiratory System Safety Workload
• Keywords:
  Air-purifying-respirators Author Keywords: N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators Exhalation Valves Face-masks Heat Performance-capability Personal-protective-equipment Physiological-response Psychological-reactions Psychophysiological Impact Respiration Respirators Respiratory-equipment Respiratory-protective-equipment Work-capacity Work-performance

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• ISSN:
  1545-9624
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  NPPTL - National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  9
• Issue:
  11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20041517
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Hyg 2012 Nov; 9(11):617-623
• Contact Point Address:
  Raymond J. Roberge, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, 626 Cochrans Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USA
• Email:
  dtn0@cdc.gov
• CAS Registry Number:
  Carbon dioxide (CAS RN 124-38-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• NORA Priority Area:
  Wholesale and Retail Trade
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2ee085dab9e4f220e9572e4196665f2d19fa664a0e0bfeea43beb711f05507bba24cd7816c39caf8689f92b477db480765c0e243c59904ab47efb84aeae71ea5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/194062/cdc_194062_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 139.36 KB ]