Evaluation of N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators Challenged with Engineered Nanoparticles

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cheng YS ; Zhou Y
• Description:
  NIOSH-certified respirators, including N95 respirators, are recommended when engineering and administrative controls do not adequately prevent exposures to airborne nanomaterials. Laboratory evaluations of filtering efficiency using standard test aerosols have been reported in the literature, but there is no information on penetration of engineered nanoparticles (1-100 nm) for N95 filtering facepiece respirators (FFR). This project evaluated the performance of two manufacturers' N95 FFR filters challenged with engineered nanoparticle aerosols containing metal oxides (such as TiO2) and carbon (such as fullerenes and nanotubes) in contrast with a sodium chloride (NaCl) aerosol at flow rates of 30, 85, and 130 L min-1. For new respirator filters in general, NaCl aerosol penetration was less than 5% and the most penetrating particle size occurred at 40 nm. Overall penetration of the engineered nanoparticle aerosols exceeded 5% and was often greater than 5% at and near the most penetrating particle size (MPPS), which occurred at a larger particle size range (90-150 nm). For respirators treated with isopropanol in which the electrostatic force was removed, penetration of NaCl and engineered nanoparticles increased substantially and the MPPS increased to 150 nm for both types of aerosols. Our results indicated that a possible reason for higher maximum penetrations and shift of MPPS observed for these engineered nanoparticles in the new respirators was related to electrostatic collection processes. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Air Pollutants, Occupational Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety
• Keywords:
  Aerosol Penetration Airborne Particles Author Keywords: N95 Filter Electret Filter Engineered Nanoparticles Metal Oxides N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators Nanomaterials Nanoparticles Particulate Filtering Facepiece Respirators Respirators Respirator Testing

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• ISSN:
  1680-8584
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New Mexico ; OSHA Region 6
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  212-220
• Volume:
  16
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20053238
• Citation:
  Aerosol Air Qual Res 2016 Jan; 16(1):212-220
• Contact Point Address:
  Yue Zhou, Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, 2425 Ridgecrest SE, Albuquerque, NM, 87108, USA
• Email:
  yzhou@lrri.org
• CAS Registry Number:
  Carbon (CAS RN 7440-44-0) ; Isopropanol (CAS RN 67-63-0) ; Sodium chloride (CAS RN 7647-14-5)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing
• Performing Organization:
  Lovelace Biomedical & Environmental Research, Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20100901
• Source Full Name:
  Aerosol and Air Quality Research
• End Date:
  20140831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:fde8b49ac905cbf4f12be77a21e1ff19581e85bd7893b872d0efd481fe25ab179ee5fa7259c3df2ea56ffe1121c6f8bdb5313de596056d77175e3186c8944980
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/216036/cdc_216036_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 800.05 KB ]