Aerosol penetration and leakage characteristics of masks used in the health care industry

Details

• Personal Author:
  Donnelly J ; Liebhaber F ; Marchioni R ; McKay R ; Myojo T ; Weber, Angela M. ; Willeke K
• Description:
  Surgical masks were tested to determine the degree of aerosol particle penettion through their filter media and through induced face seal leaks. Eight surgical masks from four different manufacturers were tested on mannequins using a corn-oil test aerosol. The percentage of filter penetration ranged from 20% to nearly 100% for submicrometer sized particles. An industrial dust/mist/fume respirator was also tested for comparison. This had significantly less penetration through its filter medium. When the surgical masks had artificially induced face seal leaks, the concentration of submicrometer sized particles inside the mask increased slightly. The more protective dust/mist/fume respirator showed a four fold increase in aerosol penetration into the mask with an artificial leak 4 millimeters in diameter. The authors conclude that the protection, as provided by surgical masks, may be insufficient in environments containing potentially hazardous submicrometer sized aerosols. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Air Pollutants, Occupational Communicable Diseases Dust Health Personnel Occupational Health Particulate Matter Personal Protective Equipment Protective Clothing Respiratory Protective Devices Safety

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• Keywords:
  Aerosol-particles Airborne-dusts Health-care-personnel Infection-control NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Grant NIOSH-Publication Personal-protective-equipment Protective-clothing Respirators Respiratory-protection

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• ISSN:
  0196-6553
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  167-173
• Volume:
  21
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00221841
• Citation:
  Am J Infect Control 1993 Aug; 21(4):167-173
• Contact Point Address:
  Environmental Health University of Cincinnati 3223 Eden Avenue Cincinnati, OH 45267-0056
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1993
• Performing Organization:
  University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19920901
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Infection Control
• End Date:
  19950831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:db20f35aefcbc405c887f6c965ea4a2e803c3943bf76e72c5acb0264b491d8d98610717aaa04b1b5ee1012dc0d4524bc875b6662fc9fc19212f9cfdc64bd7539
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/204087/cdc_204087_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 797.26 KB ]