Over 5 million workers wear
respirators in 1.3 million workplaces throughout the United States. So, it is
an established fact that face masks do help preventing damage from particulate
matter.
These respirators protect people
against insufficient oxygen environments, harmful dusts, fogs, smokes, mists,
gases, vapors and sprays. These hazards are known to cause cancer, lung
impairment, heart attacks, paralysis, or death.
Respirators are of two types. Some
remove contaminants and particulate matter from the air and are called
particulate respirators. The example is N95 respirators.
Others are powered air-purifying
respirators with cartridges/canisters which filter out chemicals and gases.
These respirators protect by supplying clean respirable air from another source.
Respirators that fall into this category include airline respirators, which use
compressed air from a remote source, and self-contained breathing apparatus,
which include their own air supply. They are like personal air purifiers.
N95 mask, the easily available one
are particulate respirators and filter particles ≥1 micrometer in diameter with
at least 95% efficiency given flow rates up to 50 liters per minute. The main
disadvantage is, to be effective, N95 masks must fit to a person's face with
less than 10% seal leakage. Secondly, 90% of our time is spent indoors and
indoor pollution may be as bad as or even worse than the outdoor pollution.
N95 respirators are not designed
for children or people with facial hair. Because a proper fit cannot be
achieved on children and people with facial hair, so the N95 respirator may not
provide full protection.
N95 respirators can be surgical or
industrial types. The ones used in hospitals are surgical ones and the one used
in the industry are industrial certified.
The industrial ones are
manufactured for use in construction and other industrial type jobs that expose
workers to dust and small particles are regulated.
These products are labeled “For
occupational use”.NIOSH approves them for at least 95% filtration efficiency
against certain non-oil based particles. Adjustable nose clip helps in
obtaining a secureseal.
All respirators must be put on and
taken off in an area outside of the contaminated area. Putting a respirator on
or taking it off even for a few seconds in a contaminated area can expose the
wearer to significant levels of hazards.All requirefit-testing and must be
adjusted to your face to provide the intended effectiveness of filtering 95% of
particles with mass median diameter of 0.3 micrometers. They are not certified
to be fluid resistant.
Simple surgical mask may not help
to protect from pollution.
Dr KK Aggarwal
Padma
Shri Awardee
President Elect Confederation of Medical
Associations in Asia and Oceania
(CMAAO)
Group
Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications
President
Heart Care Foundation of India
Immediate Past National President IMA
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