Total Inward Leakage (TIL) for Respiratory Protective Devices (Dataset)

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Total inward leakage (TIL) is an estimate of the performance of a respirator, which is measured as the leakage of contaminants through the filter media and through the faceseal interface and exhalation valve of respiratory protective devices under laboratory conditions. Several test agents have been used to measure TIL in different countries. There is a lack of consensus on the most appropriate test method to measure TIL. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) developed a standard (ISO, 2014) on the comparison of TIL measurement using sodium chloride (NaCl) and corn oil aerosols, and sulfur hexafluoride gas. A comparison of the TIL values between different methods will enable the selection of a relatively suitable method for measuring TIL. NIOSH's National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) investigated the TIL values for respirators worn by test subjects exposed to NaCl and corn oil aerosols in two aerosol chambers side-by-side. Four air-purifying respirator categories, made up of two models each, were fit tested, and then TIL was measured. TIL values for all eight respirator models were measured and compared. Results showed that the geometric mean TIL values for corn oil aerosol were larger than those values for the NaCl aerosol for all respirator models tested in the study (Rengasamy et al. 2018). The net charge level for the aerosols in the test chambers showed that the corn oil aerosol was more neutrally charged compared to the positively charged NaCl aerosols. This suggested that charged NaCl aerosols are easily captured by the filter media to give lower TIL values compared to corn oil aerosol with relatively large TIL values. NPPTL also measured filter penetration for respirators with NaCl and corn oil aerosols of the test chambers. Results showed higher filter penetration values for corn oil aerosol than for NaCl aerosol, a trend similar to TIL measured for the two aerosols. Filter efficiency measurement showed lower TIL values for relatively higher efficiency respirator models. The results obtained in the study indicated the influence of filter penetration or filter efficiency on TIL. TIL measurement using test agents with different charge level, filter penetration and filter efficiency is likely to produce dissimilar results. Overall, the selection of a test agent that yields relatively higher TIL values representing a conservative estimate of respiratory protection would be a viable choice for TIL determination. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Filtration Laboratories Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety
• Keywords:
  Air Purifying Respirators APR Equipment Reliability Equipment Testing Exposure Chambers Face Masks Filter Materials Filters Gases Humans Laboratory Testing Leak Detectors Leak Prevention Materials Testing Models N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators Oils Performance Capability Performance Tests Personal Protective Equipment PPE Respirator Certification Respirators Respirator Selection Respirator Testing Respiratory Protective Equipment Sodium Compounds Standards Sulfur Hexafluoride Testing Equipment

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• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHRD-1011-2019-1
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Dataset
• Genre:
  Research Dataset
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  NPPTL - National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20056952
• Citation:
  Pittsburgh, PA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Research Dataset RD-1011-2019-1, 2019 Aug; :dataset
• Contact Point Address:
  Christopher Coffey, Ph.D., NIOSH, National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, Research Branch, 626 Cochrans Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA, 15236-0070
• Email:
  ccc3@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Total inward leakage (TIL) for respiratory protective devices
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e0000fbc8be82adc0f15bd6e0c23e179aa66c4dedc0f94f80442745f3b1458dc0b96368d1e7220a2b50595b6c6d7231f2cb7f6192e9bc6deaea7683bd4e2ce28
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/214440/cdc_214440_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 101.55 KB ]