Effect of Respirator Inspiratory Resistance Level on Constant Load Treadmill Work Performance

• Published in: American Industrial Hygiene Association journal Vol. 60; no. 4; pp. 474 - 479
• Main Authors: Johnson, Arthur T., Scott, William H., Lausted, Christopher G., Benjamin, M. Benhur, Coyne, Karen M., Sahota, Manjit S., Johnson, Monique M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Fairfax, VA AIHA JOURNAL 01.07.1999; American Industrial Hygiene Association; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Airway Resistance; Applied physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Design; Ergonomics. Work place. Occupational physiology; Exercise; Exercise Test; Female; Fitness equipment; Human physiology applied to population studies and life conditions. Human ecophysiology; Humans; Hypoventilation; Inspiratory Capacity; Male; Maximum oxygen consumption; Medical sciences; Oxygen Consumption; Personal protective equipment; Reference Values; resistance; respirator; Respiratory Protective Devices - standards; Respiratory system; Studies; Work; United States > US; Treadmill exercise; Physical exercise; Human; Physical performance; Apparatus; Inspiratory resistive load; Individual safety equipment; Respiration; Workload
• ISSN: 0002-8894
• DOI: 10.1080/00028899908984467

Respirator inspiratory resistance can affect performance times, especially when the experiment is optimized to elicit respiratory stress. Twelve subjects performed on a treadmill at constant speeds and grades chosen to result in performance times of 5-15 min. Six levels of inspiratory resistance were used, ranging from 0.78 to 7.64 cm H 2 O·sec/L. The results showed that performance times decrease linearly with resistance level, and no threshold resistance value is apparent. Inspiratory resistance also induces hypoventilation, with lower minute volumes and lower oxygen consumption values at higher resistances. These trends are also linear. From these results, there is no value for inspiratory resistance that can be given as a design goal. Other parameters such as weight and space may dictate filter resistance values, and these, in turn, will lead to determined performance degradations.