Effectiveness of a positive pressure respirator for controlling lead exposure in acid storage battery manufacturing.

Effective protection factors for lead-acid storage battery manufacturing workers using powered air-purifying respirators and their corresponding blood lead histories are reported and compared with results for half-mask, negative pressure respirators. Airborne lead protection factors for the powered, air-purifying respirator ranged from 2 to 74, while lead levels in the blood remained stable or decreased for 8 of the 13 workers monitored when compared to negative pressure respirator use levels.