The Effects of Organic Vapors on the Efficiency of Electrostatic Respirator Filter Media

Details

• Personal Author:
  Martin, Stephen B. Jr. ; Moyer E ; Wigal T
• Description:
  New 42 CFR 84 electrostatic non-powered, air-purifying respirator filters, approved for use in conjunction with organic vapor cartridges, were tested for filter efficiency degradation resulting from organic vapor exposures. N-, R-, and P-series filters were exposed to saturated organic vapors for varying amounts of time to determine a worst-case degradation profile. Isopropanol, ethyl acetate, acetone and pentane vapors were used because of their prevalence in the workplace. The electrostatic filters were also tested in a flow-through configuration against isopropanol vapor at Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health (IDLH) concentrations (2000 ppm) over an 8-hour shift. The IDLH concentration is the highest concentration in which these respirators could be used. Filters loaded with sodium chloride aerosol and silica dust were also exposed in the flow-through system to determine if aerosol loading has an impact on filter efficiency degradation. After vapor exposure, the filters were tested on a TSI 8130 against NaCI aerosol (N-series filters) or a TSI 8110 against DOP aerosol (R- and P-series filters) for aerosol penetration. Aerosol penetration was used as a surrogate for filter efficiency degradation because there is currently no way of measuring the electrostatic charge distribution on the filters. Electrostatic N-, R-, and P- series filters show filter efficiency degradation resulting in aerosol penetrations of over 70 percent when exposed to saturated isopropanol vapor. Filters were degraded by the other saturated vapors, but not to the extent of the saturated isopropanol. The filters tested using the flow-through system showed very little, if any, efficiency degradation, even when aerosol loading on the filter was present. This research shows that electrostatic respirator filters can be degraded by these organic vapors at saturation concentrations. However this degradation is not a concern because workplace concentrations will be much lower than saturation. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Occupational Health Particulate Matter Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety Silicon Dioxide
• Keywords:
  Air-purification Air-purifiers Exposure-levels Filters Organic-vapors Particulate-dust Particulates Personal-protective-equipment Protective-equipment Respirators Respiratory-protective-equipment Silica-dusts

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• Publisher:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 9 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  97-98
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20022552
• Citation:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, June 1-6, 2002, San Diego, California. Fairfax, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 2002 Jun; :97-98
• CAS Registry Number:
  Acetone (CAS RN 67-64-1) ; Ethyl acetate (CAS RN 141-78-6) ; Isopropanol (CAS RN 67-63-0)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• NORA Priority Area:
  Research Tools and Approaches: Control Technology and Personal Protective Equipment
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, June 1-6, 2002, San Diego, California
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e01bbc0c49d5a72a87b4ff980b4b5826fe467c3ef8d16339b5c12f1eb18c1fdae627a0418eabdcefc30c097a34a662a5908af51879c2dd1c9499a44a823ee7fd
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/199293/cdc_199293_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 693.08 KB ]