"Worst Case" aerosol testing parameters: I. Sodium chloride and dioctyl phthalate aerosol filter efficiency as a function of particle size and flow rate

Details

• Personal Author:
  Moyer, Ernest S. ; Stevens GA
• Description:
  Efforts were made to determine the optimum size for aerosol particles to be used in testing the effectiveness of particulate respirator filters. Possible influences of the test flow rate on the size determinations were considered. During these studies particles in the most penetrating size ranges were used to test filters which are commercially available against dust and mists (DM); paint, lacquer, and enamel mist (PLEM); and dust, fume and mist (DFM); as well as high efficiency (HE) types. Initial testing was performed in a continuous airflow of 64 liters/minute. Filters were tested without any preconditioning. Particle sizes in these tests ranged from 0.03 to 0.24 micrometers count mean diameter (CMD) for solid sodium-chloride and 0.03 to 0.30 micrometer CMD for dioctyl- phthalate (DOP). The findings indicate that respiratory filters follow many of the predictions of single fiber filtration theory. It was possible to identify a particle size at which minimum efficiency exists. This size was a function of the flow rate, filter type, and filter manufacturer. For HE filters these minimum efficiencies occurred at larger particle sizes than for other types of filters. Excellent efficiencies were demonstrated by the HE filters at or nearer to the worst case conditions than is possible for the other tested filters, resulting in efficiencies greater than 99.97 percent. The authors conclude that tests conducted of worst case possibilities are much more vigorous and are able to differentiate between good, medium, and low efficiency filters. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety
• Keywords:
  Aerosol-particles Air-quality-control Equipment-reliability Filter-materials NIOSH-Author Personal-protective-equipment Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiratory-protective-equipment Testing-equipment
• 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:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  257-264
• Volume:
  50
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00187673
• Citation:
  Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 1989 May; 50(5):257-264
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1989
• NORA Priority Area:
  Pulmonary System Disorders
• 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-512:63c07d3f73417c92d86596e3d4794fc0ecad75e9aab22a20ae925625ec1913cf92f2284648a45c633cf0ebd5dfca1b48efcef804aabf0c2c971d560ab88b2dcc
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/203961/cdc_203961_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 573.21 KB ]