November 10, 2004—The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has released a publication to provide guidance on respirator selection that incorporates the changes necessitated by the revisions to the respirator use and certification regulations and changes in the NIOSH policy.
“NIOSH Publication No. 2005-100: NIOSH Respirator Selection Logic 2004” gives criteria for selecting Particulate, Gas/Vapor, and Combination Respirators, as well as Escape Respirators; restrictions and requirements for all respirator usage; information on hazards and exposures; and more.
NIOSH says the guidance is not intended to be used for selection of respirators for protection against infectious agents or for chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) agents of terrorism, as the information necessary for infectious agents is not generally available, and CBRN terrorism events may involve chemicals that can quickly degrade respirator materials or have extremely low toxic levels that are difficult to measure.
