Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR): An Efficient Personal Protective Device Against Respirable Dust in Underground Mining Operations

Details

• Personal Author:
  Arnold B ; Gonzalez LS ; Kumar AR
• Description:
  The health and safety of miners is critical in the industry. Prolonged exposure to dust-laden air results in irreversible ailments like pneumoconiosis that have a severe impact on their lives. Operations use various personal protective devices (PPEs) to alleviate their exposure to respirable dust. Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR) is one such device that uses high-efficiency filters and positive pressure masks to shield miners from airborne contaminants. Used in the medical and other industries, these respirators efficiently protected healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, the mining industry has shown a growing interest in adopting this PPE to ensure safe working conditions for the miners. We present an introduction to the PAPRs and discuss their dust capture efficacy in this manuscript. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Dust Mining Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety
• Keywords:
  Dust Exposure Mining Industry PAPR Personal Protective Equipment Powered Air Purifying Respirator PPE
• Publisher:
  Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Contract
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Pennsylvania ; Philadelphia Region [OSHA]
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070857
• Citation:
  MineXchange: 2025 SME Annual Conference & Expo, February 23-26, 2025, Denver, Coloardo, preprint 25-069. Englewood, CO: Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration, 2025 Feb; :1-6
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2025
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  MineXchange: 2025 SME Annual Conference & Expo, February 23-26, 2025, Denver, Coloardo, preprint 25-069
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b3fda183223b7565f23bd3ac01fed59301d106d5eb50f9146042393a2308673b6dbbab4934b5c06ae86509f83bf18c2fb9802be46cb7930a0f6c5fdf038807b8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/208987/cdc_208987_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 222.07 KB ]