Respirator fit of a medium mask on a group of South Africans: a cross-sectional study
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In South Africa, respiratory protective equipment is often the primary control method used to protect workers. This preliminary study investigated how well a common disposable P2 respirator fitted persons with a range of facial dimen...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Book |
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BMC,
2011-03-01T00:00:00Z.
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| Online Access: | Connect to this object online. |
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| Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In South Africa, respiratory protective equipment is often the primary control method used to protect workers. This preliminary study investigated how well a common disposable P2 respirator fitted persons with a range of facial dimensions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Quantitative respirator fit tests were performed on 29 volunteers from different racial, gender and face size groups. Two facial dimensions width (bizygomatic) and length (menton-sellion) were measured for all participants.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study 13.8% of the participants demonstrated a successful fit with the medium sized mask. These included participants from three different racial and both gender groups. The large percentage of failed fit tests (86%) indicates that reliance on off-the-shelf respirators could be problematic in South Africa.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The limitations of this preliminary study notwithstanding, respirator fit appear to be associated with individual facial characteristics and are not specific to racial/ethnic or gender characteristics.</p> |
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| Item Description: | 10.1186/1476-069X-10-17 1476-069X |