U.S. flag An official website of the United States government.
Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

i

PPE CASE: Performance Testing of Fraudulent Respirator P100 Filters, Organic Vapor Chemical Cartridges, and Combination Cartridges

Public Domain
File Language:
English


Details

  • Personal Author:
  • Description:
    This report details the results of inhalation and exhalation resistance, filtration performance, and organic vapor (OV) service life testing on NIOSH Approved® and fraudulent respirator P100 filters, chemical cartridges, and combination cartridges. During public health emergencies and subsequent respirator supply shortages, respirators that misrepresent the NIOSH approval flood the market. These fraudulent respirators often copy the look of genuine NIOSH Approved® respirators (e.g., use the same part numbers, colors) or are falsely marketed and sold as NIOSH Approved respirators when they are not. To counteract this, NIOSH registered 12 certification marks-i.e., NIOSH stylized logos with and without text, N95®, N99®, N100®, P95®, R95®, P100®, HE®, PAPR100-P®, PAPR100-N®and NIOSH Approved®-with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and recorded them with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. "NIOSH Approved" and "N95" are also registered in 14 other countries. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) owns these certification marks and NIOSH, as the approving federal entity for the Respirator Approval Program, serves as the custodian of the marks. This means that NIOSH administers and controls who can use them. Accordingly, the certification marks may only be used by NIOSH approval holders (manufacturers) that have respirators approved under Title 42, Part 84, of the Code of Federal Regulations (42 CFR Part 84) [NIOSH 2023]. By registering the certification marks, NIOSH can pursue actions as necessary to enforce their use. NIOSH's Brand Protection Team has been monitoring and investigating the use of these certification marks on several online marketplaces since 2020. When the team finds a product listing that misuses the certification marks, NIOSH pursues actions to remove it. Despite NIOSH's efforts, numerous fraudulent respirator listings continue to appear on online marketplaces. These products potentially provide consumers with a false sense of confidence that they are receiving the same level of protection NIOSH Approved respirators provide. Recently, NIOSH has seen a trend towards fraudulent respirator components (e.g., filters and cartridges) being offered in online marketplaces. Entities who are not affiliated with a NIOSH approval holder are selling respirator filters and cartridges, misrepresenting them as being part of a NIOSH Approved respirator configuration. NIOSH does not approve individual components, only complete respirator assemblies (configurations). NIOSH approval labels specify the components that make up a respirator configuration, including replacement parts. If components not listed on the approval label are used, the respirator will not be considered approved by NIOSH. Due to limited performance data for fraudulent respirator filters and cartridges, NIOSH initiated a pilot effort to evaluate the performance characteristics of fraudulent respirator components that typically appear in online marketplaces and compare them to respirator components that are part of a genuine NIOSH Approved configuration. This report details the performance data for fraudulent P100 filters, chemical cartridges, and combination cartridges (chemical/particulate) when evaluated for inhalation and exhalation resistance, particle filtration, and chemical penetration.
  • Subjects:
  • Keywords:
  • Publisher:
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
  • Document Type:
    Text
  • Genre:
    Report
  • Place as Subject:
  • 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:
    18 pdf pages
  • NIOSHTIC Number:
    nn:20071097
  • Citation:
    Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NPPTL Report No. P2025-0101, 2025 Sep; :1-18
  • Federal Fiscal Year:
    2025
  • Peer Reviewed:
    False
  • Source Full Name:
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha-512:2debc2c90274b0410e829b1005ba6847ba710a706cb61a74f02528bc7ce50e688996714995c9050c7b915adf10e05378b7f2be2dbb2a8f78d05b3dc198ae18b1
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 1.26 MB ]
PREVIOUS
File Language:
English
ON THIS PAGE
Details
CDC STACKS serves as an archival repository of CDC-published products including scientific findings, journal articles, guidelines, recommendations, or other public health information authored or co-authored by CDC or funded partners.

As a repository, CDC STACKS retains documents in their original published format to ensure public access to scientific information.
BACK TO TOP