Page 20 - OHS, April/May 2024

PPE: RESPIRATORY PROTECTION
Respirators: Pursuing the Perfect Fit
A NIOSH/NPPTL challenge aims to foster technology that helps improve respirator fit to protect workers from respiratory hazards.
BY DAVID KOPF
Dust. Fumes. Vapors. Particulate. Gases. Workers in many industries wear respirators to protect them from a wide spectrum of dangerous respiratory hazards. That said, their respirators are only as good as their fit. An ill-fitting
respirator can result in leaks, significantly reducing its protective ca- pabilities and exposing the worker to harmful substances.
A properly fitting respirator forms a tight seal against the face with no gaps, preventing these hazardous substances from being inhaled and causing health issues, such as respiratory diseases, chemical poisoning, or long-term organ damage. Also, when workers feel confident that their protective equipment is effective, they are more likely to use it consistently and correctly, enhancing the overall safety culture within the workplace.
This is why, in industries such as healthcare, construction, manufacturing, and chemical handling, where the risk of exposure to hazardous substances is high, a well-fitting respirator is essential — and required.
“When respirators are used in the workplace, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires that the workplace have a respiratory protection program in place, and part of that respira- tory protection program is initial fit testing as well as annual fit testing,” says Maryann D’Alessandro, Ph.D., the Director of the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL), the research center within the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
However, while many workplaces have these respiratory pro- tection programs in place, there are many instances where those using respirators might not have access to fit testing programs, she adds. (Think of the public during recent events such as the CO- VID-19 pandemic and wildland fires, for example.)
Also, it’s important to keep in mind that no two faces are the same; people’s faces vary significantly in shape and size, making the need for proper fit all the more universal. So, improving respi- rator fit and fit evaluation is an evolving endeavor.
Respirator Fit Evaluation Challenge
This is why the NPPTL started the Respirator Fit Evaluation Chal- lenge1. A collaboration between NIOSH/NPPTL, Capital Consult- ing Corporation and the NASA Tournament Lab, the challenge aims to foster the development of innovative and improved meth- ods for assessing the fit of respirators to enhance worker protec- tion. The challenge invites innovators to submit ideas through a multi-phase process, including initial proposal submission, devel- opment of prototypes, and final testing, to identify and advance new technologies for respirator fit evaluation.
The types of solutions entered in the challenge can approach improving mask fit from different angles:
■ Innovations determining fit after putting on the respirator.
■ Innovations that determine fit continuously while the respi- rator is being worn.
■ Qualitative or quantitative fit evaluation solutions.
Approaches to improving mask fit have employed LIDAR, op- tical gas imaging, and real-time temperature sensing. Concepts have marrying sensing and computing power for solutions such as AI analysis of face mapping data, as well as materials engineering to create facemask gaskets that change color depending on pres- sure or humidity variations inside and outside the respirator, notes Adam Smith, Ph.D., Senior Scientist with NPPTL.
“This challenge is focused on filtering facepiece respirators, so if you’re thinking about those specific types of respirators, you know, first, they must be put on correctly,” Smith explains. “They must fit snuggly against the user’s face — no gaps between the us- er’s skin and the respirator seal — and they must achieve the filtra- tion efficiency, which, is 95 percent, 99 percent, or 99.97 percent filtration efficiency.”
In Phase 1 of the Respirator Fit Evaluation Challenge, partici- pants were asked to submit 10-page concept proposals outlining their innovative approaches for improving respirator fit testing methods. Entrants submitted innovative ideas that could revolu- tionize the way respirator fit is evaluated. From those entries, the challenge selected 20 winning entries last July to receive Phase 1’s $5,000 awards and an invitation to enter Phase 2.
In Phase 2, entrants moved onto prototyping, with winning concepts building a prototype based on their submission. Evalu- ation reports and video demonstrations were also required as part of the entry process. In March, NIOSH selected nine winners who will equally share the Phase 2 purse of $100,000:
■ TruFIT LLC – Fail-safe, visual, and real-time fit indicators for facial PPE, such as masks and respirators.
■ Richárd Ádám Vécsey and Axel Ország-Krisz, Team rixel – An AI-assisted mobile application and its infrastructure to give immediate feedback to the user about the fit of the selected filter- ing facepiece respirator.
■ OpenAeros LLC – OpenFT: A low-cost, open source, quan- titative fit tester that pairs a unique non-destructive sampling probe with an open source condensation particle counter to de- liver real time respirator fit measurement.
■ Philip Neustrom – FitTests4All Home Fit Testing Kit: An affordable respirator evaluation solution designed for both home and on-the-go use.
■ Tony Jiang – TIR: A solution that harnesses the mechanics of temperature sensors to determine respirator fit in real-time.
■ Sungmee Park and Sundaresan Jayaraman – A fabric- based sensor network integrated into a filtering facepiece respira- tor continuously and unobtrusively monitors the respirator fit and provides alerts when face seal leakage could compromise fit.
■ Consequent Labs – A novel solution to enable rapid, user- friendly, and highly-scalable respirator fit testing of professional users and the general public for routine use and during public health emergencies.
20 Occupational Health & Safety | APRIL/MAY 2024
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