Identification of Faceseal Leak Sites on a Half-Mask Respirator

Details

• Personal Author:
  Oestenstad RK ; Perkins JL ; Rose VE
• Description:
  A method was developed to identify the location and shape of respirator faceseal leaks by the deposition of a fluorescent tracer. To provide a test environment with stable aerosol concentration and size distribution of 4-methyl-7-diethylaminocoumarin (MDC), an aerosol generating, conditioning and exposure system was designed and tested. Both a mannequin and human subjects were used to test for faceseal leak sites by deposition of the tracer aerosol and subsequent observation under longwave ultraviolet lighting. Test parameters were identified for the optimal definition of leaks. Photographic techniques were developed to document the identified leak sites. Leak sites which could be detected visually and by photographic methods were classified as to their location and their one dimensional shape. The study demonstrated the feasibility of identifying respirator faceseal leak sites with an aerosol of MDC using the described generating, conditioning and exposure system. The system was found to be capable of providing a constant output of an aerosol with the desired size distribution characteristics. Sufficient deposition of the fluorescent tracer was made to allow visual detection of faceseal leak sites on a mannequin and human subjects. Photographic documentation of identified leak sites was presented. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety
• Keywords:
  NIOSH-Grant Personal-protective-equipment Protective-equipment Pulmonary-system-disorders Respirators Respiratory-protection
• Series:
  Grant Final Reports
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Final Grant Report
• Place as Subject:
  Alabama ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-23
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00192789
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB90-162389
• Citation:
  Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, 1989 Mar; :1-23
• Contact Point Address:
  Environmental Health Sciences Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health Birmingham, AL 35294
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1989
• NORA Priority Area:
  Research Tools and Approaches: Control Technology and Personal Protective Equipment ; Pulmonary System Disorders
• Performing Organization:
  University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  19880401
• Source Full Name:
  Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama Grant No. R03-OH-02580, 23 pages, 30 references
• End Date:
  19890331
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:246d2bbf6d84b41ba41faac4a474d0e69d5478cfcec626cb9c9b52080141ed9f3ca95ef3734a8b2f6919bd822179247c5e6251cc1312684b87dfacc94a10b500
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/217784/cdc_217784_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 649.75 KB ]