Protection of Firefighters Against Combustion Aerosol Particles: Simulated Workplace Protection Factor of a Half-Mask Respirator (Pilot Study)

• Published in: Journal of occupational and environmental hygiene Vol. 12; no. 6; pp. 415 - 420
• Main Authors: Dietrich, James, Yermakov, Michael, Reponen, Tiina, Kulkarni, Pramod, Qi, Chaolong, Grinshpun, Sergey A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 01.01.2015; Taylor & Francis LLC
• Subjects: Adult; Aerosols; Aerosols - analysis; Air Pollutants, Occupational - analysis; combustion aerosol; elastomeric half-mask; Female; Firefighters; Fires; Humans; Inhalation Exposure - analysis; Inhalation Exposure - prevention & control; Life support systems; Male; Occupational Exposure - analysis; Occupational Exposure - prevention & control; Particle Size; Particulate Matter - analysis; Personal protective equipment; Pilot Projects; Respiratory Protective Devices; simulated workplace protection factor; Simulation; Studies; elastomeric half-mask; combustion aerosol; firefighters; simulated workplace protection factor
• ISSN: 1545-9624; 1545-9632
• DOI: 10.1080/15459624.2015.1006637

The present pilot study investigated the penetration of ultrafine particles originated by combustion of different materials into elastomeric half-mask respirators equipped with two P100 filters. We determined the Simulated Workplace Protection Factor (SWPF) for 11 firefighters wearing elastomeric half-mask respirators and performing activities simulating those conducted during fire overhaul operations. The tests were performed in a controlled laboratory setting. A newly-developed battery-operated Portable Aerosol Mobility Spectrometer (PAMS) was used to measure size-resolved aerosol particle concentrations outside (C out ) and inside (C in ) of an air-purifying respirator donned on a firefighter, and the SWPF was calculated as C out /C in . Based on the total aerosol concentration, the "total" SWPF ranged from 4,222 (minimum) to 35,534 (maximum) with values falling primarily in a range from 11,171 (25 percentile) to 26,604 (75 percentile) and a median value being ≈15,000. This is consistent with the recently reported fit factor (FF) data base. (1) The size-resolved SWPF data revealed a dependency on the particle size. It was concluded that a portable device such as PAMS can be used on firefighters during overhaul operations (as well as on other workers wearing elastomeric half-mask respirators) to monitor the aerosol concentrations in real time and ultimately help prevent overexposure.