Evaluation of saccharin qualitative fitting test for respirators.

The results of a qualitative fitting test for half-mask respirators utilizing a sodium saccharin aerosol were compared to the results of a quantitative fitting test utilizing an oil mist aerosol. For a respirator-wearer combination having a fit factor less than 10, as determined by the quantitative test, the point estimate of the probability of that combination not being rejected by the saccharin qualitative test was found to be 0.00 with 95% confidence that this statistic is not expected to exceed 0.05. For a respirator-wearer combination having a fit factor less than 100, the point estimate of the probability of that combination not being rejected by the qualitative test was found to be 0.03 with 95% confidence that this statistic is not expected to exceed 0.08. The effects of temperature and relative humidity on the size distribution of the saccharin aerosol were also investigated and found to be slight.