Selected facial measurements of Arabic and Asian workers.

Although this first step of anthropometric measurements indicates the Arabs have narrower faces than typically found among North Americans, it does not immediately follow that adequate fits cannot be achieved with full-face respirators presently available. The second step then will be to perform qualitative and quantitative fit tests. The survey does imply, however, that where full-facepiece respirators are available in wide and narrow sizes, the ratio of narrow to wide ones purchased should be adjusted to reflect the underlying population.