Evaluation of respirator filters for asbestos fibers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cheng Y-S ; Fan B ; Holmes TD
• Description:
  Fiber aerosols are known to have different aerodynamic behaviors than spherical particles and usually carry higher electrostatic charges. We investigated the effects of flow rate and charge status of filter cartridges on the penetration of spherical and fiber aerosols. Four types of test respirator filters were selected: two for passive respirators, one for a powered respirator, and one disposable respirator. Surface charges on respirator filters were determined using a noncontact field electrostatic field meter. Penetration tests were performed for filter cartridges before and after charge neutralization. The surface charge measurements on the respirator filters showed that some filters, including those used in disposable face masks, are charged to enhance the collection efficiency. Only highefficiency particulate air filters performed consistently for both spherical test aerosols and the three types of asbestos fibers. The surface charge potential of filter cartridges and flow rate did not appear to affect the performance of these filters. In contrast to the high-efficiency filters, the aerosol penetration performance of low-efficiency filters and face masks deteriorated when the charge potential on the filter was removed. Our data also showed that the surface charges decreased in a hightemperature, high-humidity environment and disappeared after 1 week. Deposition of spherical particles and fibers in the charged disposable facemask filter was enhanced.For chargedneutralized, low-efficiency filter cartridges, asbestos fibers may penetrate more than spherical particles with a mean particle size of 0.3 um diameter. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Air Pollutants, Occupational Asbestos Chemistry Computers Dust Environmental Monitoring Inhalation Exposure Inorganic Chemicals Occupational Health Particulate Matter Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Software

  More +
• Keywords:
  Aerosol-particles Air-sampling Airborne-fibers Analytical-processes Asbestos-dust Asbestos-fibers Author Keywords: Asbestos Chemical-reactions Computer-models Computer-software Disposal Mask Exposure-levels Face-masks Fibrous-dusts Filter Penetration Inhalants Models Particulates Respirator Cartridge Risk-factors Sampling

  More +
• ISSN:
  1545-9624
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; New Mexico ; OSHA Region 6 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  26-35
• Volume:
  3
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20044481
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Hyg 2006 Jan; 3(1):26-35
• Contact Point Address:
  Yung-Sung Cheng, Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, 2425 Ridgecrest Drive SE, Albuquerque, NM 87108
• Email:
  ycheng@lrri.org
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2006
• Performing Organization:
  Lovelace Biomedical & Environmental Research, Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20020901
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• End Date:
  20080831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:44c4e8d8ffa4dab02026c06c40e752001df8d4479b1adca462a1678ca749bde20046e6a5df57ee46c3818db81972abf3affa61611fdedf0610db323c838170cc
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/200171/cdc_200171_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.03 MB ]