Respirator performance for STEL exposures in thermal environments
An irritant smoke qualitative field test procedure was developed and used to evaluate the performance of rubber and silicone facepiece models of a half-mask air-purifying respirator under thermal and non-thermal working conditions for 37 maintenance workers at a coal-fired, electrical power generation plant. Prior to participating in field testing, subjects were screened using an irritant smoke qualitative fit test. During initial fit testing, 30% of the subjects failed to fit, and additional failures in subsequent tests resulted in an overall failure rate of 42%. The subjects experienced respiratory failures in both thermal and non-thermal environments even after the poor fits had been eliminated by the use of a fit test. Over 90% of the failures in the thermal environment and all of the failures in the non-thermal environment occurred within the first 9 min of the 15-min test period. The effectiveness of respirators of both facepiece materials was decreased significantly (p < .05) during thermal working conditions. Half-mask respirators of the type studied were found to provide inadequate protection for STEL exposures in thermal environments and may be inappropriate for use for a large percentage of working population. The irritant smoke qualitative field test procedure was shown to be effective for evaluating short-term performance of negative pressure, half-mask respirators, providing there are no interfering air currents, where HEPA or HEPA combination cartridges will provide adequate respiratory protection.
- Research Organization:
- Oklahoma Univ., Oklahoma City (USA). Health Sciences Center
- OSTI ID:
- 5786733
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (Ph.D)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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