Dietrich James, Yermakov Michael, Reponen Tiina, Kulkarni Pramod, Qi Chaolong, Grinshpun Sergey A
a Center for Health-Related Aerosol Studies, Department of Environmental Health , University of Cincinnati , Cincinnati , Ohio . E-mail:
J Occup Environ Hyg. 2015;12(6):415-20. 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 (Cin) 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.
本初步研究调查了不同材料燃烧产生的超细颗粒对配备两个P100过滤器的弹性半面罩呼吸器的穿透情况。我们测定了11名佩戴弹性半面罩呼吸器并进行模拟火灾检修作业活动的消防员的模拟工作场所防护因数（SWPF）。测试在可控的实验室环境中进行。使用新开发的电池驱动便携式气溶胶迁移率光谱仪（PAMS）测量佩戴在消防员身上的空气净化呼吸器外部（C(out)）和内部（C(in)）的粒径分辨气溶胶颗粒浓度，并将SWPF计算为C(out)/C(in)。基于总气溶胶浓度，“总”SWPF范围为4222（最小值）至35534（最大值），数值主要落在11171（第25百分位数）至26604（第75百分位数）范围内，中位数约为15000。这与最近报告的适配因数（FF）数据库一致。（(1)）粒径分辨的SWPF数据显示其与颗粒大小有关。得出的结论是，在检修作业期间，可对消防员（以及其他佩戴弹性半面罩呼吸器的工人）使用PAMS等便携式设备实时监测气溶胶浓度，最终有助于防止过度暴露。
