Simulated workplace performance of N95 respirators

Details

• Personal Author:
  Campbell DL ; Coffey, Christopher C. ; Campbell DL ; Coffey, Christopher C.
• Description:
  The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has received many inquiries about the face-fitting characteristics of the new N95 respirators. These inquiries raised the issues of how well do these respirators fit, whether N95 respirators have to be fit-tested, and whether they can be quantitatively fit-tested. In response, researchers of the NIOSH Certification and Quality Assurance Branch evaluated the performance of 12 N95 respirator models on a panel of 25 subjects with varying face sizes. The performance of each respirator model was assessed in two ways: first, on the panel of 25 subjects not fit-tested and, second, after removing from the panel those subjects failing a fit test. Total penetration, the combination of filter penetration and face seal leakage, was measured for each panel member. The 95th-percentile of the total penetration values was then computed for each model. The 95th-percentile of the total penetration that is typically used to indicate overall respirator performance indicates that 95% of the wearers can expect to have a total respirator penetration less than this value. The 95th-percentile total penetration without fit-testing for the 12 respirators ranged from 5 to 77%. A properly fitted half-mask respirator is expected to have a total penetration less than 10%. When the first donning was used as a surrogate fit-test to screen out poor fits, the 95th-percentile of the total penetration decreased to 2 to 4%, a significant increase in protection. Therefore, this study suggests that this level of protection is achieved only when fit-testing is performed to screen out poor face fits. The results also indicate that fit-testing is an essential element of a respirator program. Without fit-testing, the protection provided by this class of respirator is unreliable. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Respiratory System Safety
• Keywords:
  Air-purifying-respirators Analytical-models Anthropometry Equipment-reliability Face-masks Humans Leak-prevention Models Performance-capability Personal-protective-equipment Respirators Respiratory-equipment Testing-equipment

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• Publisher:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary ; Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Georgia ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies ; DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Pages in Document:
  61
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20043990
• Citation:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 9-15, 1998, Atlanta, Georgia. Fairfax, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 1998 May; :61
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1998
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 9-15, 1998, Atlanta, Georgia
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:036dad483e6acfdd94e6035ed20cba561627d89fb2d25677aaebb90f320f94efc055d02c7ec631731a24cd3206e3677dcb2694fee1d4de09d9cb93fbdcd9f531
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/199847/cdc_199847_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 634.18 KB ]