Comparison of simulated workplace protection factors offered by N95 and P100 filtering facepiece and elastomeric half-mask respirators against particles of 10 to 400 nm

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bergman, Michael ; He X ; Horvatin M ; Liu Y ; Vo E ; Zhuang Z
• Description:
  This study compared the simulated workplace protection factors (SWPFs) between NIOSH-approved N95 respirators and P100 respirators, including two models of filtering facepiece respirator (FFR) and two models of elastomeric half-mask respirator (EHR), against sodium chloride particles (NaCl) in a range of 10 to 400 nm. Twenty-five human test subjects performed modified OSHA fit test exercises in a controlled laboratory environment with the N95 respirators (two FFR models and two EHR models) and the P100 respirators (two FFRs and two EHRs). Two Scanning Mobility Particle Sizers (SMPS) were used to measure aerosol concentrations (in the 10-400 nm size range) inside (Cin) and outside (Cout) of the respirator, simultaneously. SWPF was calculated as the ratio of Cout to Cin. The SWPF values obtained from the N95 respirators were then compared to those of the P100 respirators. SWPFs were found to be significantly different (P < 0.05) between N95 and P100 class respirators. The 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th percentiles of the SWPFs for the N95 respirators were much lower than those for the P100 models. The N95 respirators had 5th percentiles of the SWPFs > 10. In contrast, the P100 class was able to generate 5th percentiles SWPFs > 100. No significant difference was found in the SWPFs when tested against nano-size (10 to 100 nm) and large-size (100 to 400 nm) particles. Overall, the findings suggest that the two FFRs and two EHRs with P100 class filters provide better performance than those with N95 filters against particles from 10 to 400 nm, supporting current OSHA and NIOSH recommendations. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Laboratories Men Occupational Health Particulate Matter Personal Protective Equipment Protective Clothing Respiratory Protective Devices Respiratory System Safety Women Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Aerosol-particles Author Keywords: Nano Particle FFR HER Humans Laboratory-testing Measurement-equipment N95 Nanotechnology P100 Particulates Protective-clothing Protective-equipment Protective-measures Respirator Respirators Respiratory-equipment Respiratory-protection Sodium-compounds Statistical-analysis SWPF Work-environment Workers

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• ISSN:
  2377-1372
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  NPPTL - National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-6
• Volume:
  2
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046694
• Citation:
  J Nanotechnol Mater Sci 2015 Jul; 2(2):1-6
• Contact Point Address:
  Ziqing Zhuang, NIOSH-NPPTL, 626 Cochrans Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236
• Email:
  zaz3@cdc.gov
• CAS Registry Number:
  Sodium chloride (CAS RN 7647-14-5)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Nanotechnology and Materials Science
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:62b9df370597e6006a6022add6e1ca88b9ea851c7d214226678ac3786f3a898c0b72ddbb1003fcbd129dedb212deaa0435722259ec6257f8a10c48d0963f99c2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202043/cdc_202043_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 610.98 KB ]