Field Performance Measurements of Half-Facepiece Respirators: Steel Mill Operations

Details

• Personal Author:
  Myers WR ; Zhuang Z
• Description:
  Ambient and in-facepiece samples to evaluate the protection provided by negative-pressure, half-facepiece respirators were collected on workers in different areas of a steel mill including a sinter plant and a basic oxygen process shop. Protection was assessed by workplace protection factors (WPF). All the in-facepiece concentrations were dramatically less than the corresponding ambient concentration levels or permissible exposure limits. The geometric mean (GM) ambient and in-facepiece concentrations of iron were found to vary among tasks. Significant differences were also found to occur between the GM ambient exposure levels in which some of the respirators were used. Significant differences in respirator performance as measured by WPF or in-facepiece iron concentration were observed among different brands of respirators. For all job classifications and at all levels of airborne exposure, the fifth percentile estimates for the WPF distributions for each brand of respirator were all greater than 20. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Dust Ferrous Compounds Metal Workers Occupational Health Particulate Matter Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Respiratory System Safety
• Keywords:
  Airborne-dusts Airborne-particles Dust-exposure Dust-masks Dust-particles Dust-sampling Dusts Exposure-levels Exposure-limits Face-masks Iron-compounds Personal-protective-equipment Protective-equipment Respirable-dust Respiration Respirators Steel-industry

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• ISSN:
  0002-8894
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  59
• Issue:
  11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20023964
• Citation:
  Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 1998 Nov; 59(11):789-795
• Contact Point Address:
  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Health Effects Laboratory Division, 1095 Willowdale Road, Morgantown, WV 26505
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1999
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8bf2583c055ee61496999b473ed7d4511fb7548a56dc16457c7198a2d152e15316aa4afe55a2d7d061cd29ea65ffb75d34b1726da8ad4bbedb97cbcbb2ebd657
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/195996/cdc_195996_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 310.44 KB ]