respirator fit of a medium mask on a group of south africans a cross-sectional study呼吸器的媒介面具在一组南非一个横断面研究.pdfVIP

Spies et al. Environmental Health 2011, 10:17 /content/10/1/17 RESEARCH Open Access Respirator fit of a medium mask on a group of South Africans: a cross-sectional study Adri Spies1,2†, Kerry S Wilson2*†, Robert Ferrie3 Abstract Background: 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. Methods: 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. Results: 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. Conclusions: 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. Background an individual to know how to don and wear the respira- Personal protective equipment (PPE) is widely used to tor properly [2,3]. protect workers from exposure to airborne hazardous People come in many shapes and sizes and therefore substances although it should be viewed as a last resort the ability of a given respirator to form an effective after other control methods have been implemented. barrier between the wea