Respiratory Protection in a Time of Crisis: NIOSH Testing of International Respiratory Protective Devices for Emergency Use

Details

• Personal Author:
  Andrews AS ; Cichowicz, Jaclyn Krah ; Coffey, Christopher C. ; D’Alessandro, Maryann M. ; Fries ML ; Powers JR Jr. ; Yorio, Patrick L.
• Description:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-approved respirators are required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) when personal respiratory protection is used in US occupational settings. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for NIOSH-approved N95 filtering facepiece respirators overwhelmed the available supply. To supplement the national inventory of N95 respirators, contingency and crisis capacity strategies were implemented and incorporated a component that endorsed the use of non-NIOSH-approved respiratory protective devices that conformed to select international standards. The development and execution of this strategy required the collaborative effort of numerous agencies. The Food and Drug Administration temporarily authorized non-NIOSHapproved international respiratory protective devices through an emergency use authorization, OSHA relaxed their enforcement guidance concerning their use in US workplaces, and NIOSH initiated a supplemental performance assessment process to verify the quality of international devices. NIOSH testing revealed that many of the non-NIOSHapproved respiratory protective devices had filtration efficiencies below 95% and substantial inconsistencies in filtration performance. This article reports the results of the NIOSH testing to date and discusses how it has contributed to continuous improvement of the crisis strategy of temporarily permitting the use of non-NIOSH-approved respirators in US occupational settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communicable Diseases Disaster Planning Emergencies Filtration Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Public Health Quality Control Respiratory Protective Devices Safety Viral Diseases

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: COVID-19 Coronavirus COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness Epidemic Management/Response Equipment Testing Guidelines N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators National Strategy/Policy Performance Tests Personal Protective Equipment Policy PPE Public Health Public Health Preparedness/Response Quality Standards Viral Diseases

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• ISSN:
  2326-5094
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  NPPTL - National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  379-385
• Volume:
  19
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20061925
• Citation:
  Health Secur 2021 Aug; 19(4):379-385
• Contact Point Address:
  Angela S. Andrews, MS, Physical Scientist, National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, Evaluation and Testing Branch, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 1000 Frederick Lane, Morgantown, WV 26508
• Email:
  aandrews@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2021
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Health Security
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f92552d6c1d9fad584ea0ca7201d4077cbde945a7dc08701019e6d3804988271a63557eb8d5e786a307d4be47e3a4d7153990740269975b74d56ee243e591b80
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/225267/cdc_225267_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 161.10 KB ]