Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine if using an N95 filtering face-piece respirator concurrently with a loose-fitting powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) offers additional protection to the wearer.
METHODS: We used a breathing mannequin programmed to deliver minute volumes of 25 L/min and 40 L/min. We measured the baseline protection factor of the PAPR with its motor operational and then deactivated (to simulate mechanical or battery failure). We tested 3 replicates of 3 different N95 models. We glued each N95 to the breathing mannequin and obtained a minimum protection factor of 100 at 25 L/min. We then placed the PAPR on the mannequin and took protection factor measurements with the N95-plus-PAPR combination, at 25 L/min and 40 L/min, with the PAPR operational and then deactivated.
RESULTS: The N95 significantly increased the PAPR's protection factor, even with the PAPR deactivated. The effect was multiplicative, not merely additive.
CONCLUSIONS: An N95 decreases the concentration of airborne particles inspired by the wearer of a PAPR.
Footnotes
- Correspondence: Raymond J Roberge MD MPH, National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, PO Box 18070, 626 Cochrans Mill Road, Pittsburgh PA 15236. Email: dtn0{at}cdc.gov.
The authors report no conflicts of interest related to the content of this paper.
The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
- Copyright © 2008 by Daedalus Enterprises Inc.
