Thermal discomfort of respiratory protective devices

Details

• Personal Author:
  DuBois AB ; Fox, Steven H. ; Harb ZF
• Description:
  Facial discomfort was measured as a function of temperature of the skin of the face when using face masks that depended on tidal breathing rather than continuous airflow. The new results were compared to earlier results to determine whether facial discomfort is dependent on the type of airflow in the mask or instead on increase of skin temperature resulting from heat and humidity in the air around the face. The study subjects, six men and six women, were healthy volunteers but not experienced laborers. They reported on facial discomfort, thermal sensation and sweating while wearing three different types of half facepiece respirators requiring tidal airflow. When the temperature was at 34 degrees-C or below, the subjects reported that the face felt comfortable. When the temperature rose above 34.5 degrees-C, the face felt increasingly warm, uncomfortable and sweaty. This was consistent with earlier reports from workers wearing half facepiece respirators supplied continuously with warm, humid air. The authors conclude that thermal conditions of the face contributed to and may possibly dominate the discomfort of wearing respiratory protective devices. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Hot Temperature Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety Skin Temperature
• Keywords:
  Face-masks Hot-environments NIOSH-Grant NIOSH-Publication Personal-protective-equipment Respiratory-protection Respiratory-protective-equipment Skin-exposure Temperature-effects
• ISSN:
  0002-8894
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Connecticut ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  51
• Issue:
  10
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00196791
• Citation:
  Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 1990 Oct; 51(10):550-554
• Contact Point Address:
  None John B Pierce Foundation, Inc 290 Congress Avenue New Haven, Conn 06519
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1991
• Performing Organization:
  John B. Pierce Foundation Lab, Inc., New Haven, Connecticut
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19880501
• Source Full Name:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal
• End Date:
  19940430
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:79e14e85d47dc4b574b448cfd4e0ce383aa3ed0f75909efaa95d13220d440394f46893b07517dafb473edc716c66365346990b33d140d1b2bf8491ca3c327b58
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/205789/cdc_205789_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 420.36 KB ]