Fit is an important but difficult-to-predict feature of respirator performance. This study examined a new approach to measuring respirator performance using two continuous direct-reading particle-counting instruments in a simulated health care workplace. A pilot test was conducted with eight experienced health care professionals who passed a traditional quantitative fit test before performing t...

By using standard psychophysical techniques resistive load detection was estimated in five normal subjects during spontaneous breathing and during passive ventilation in a Drinker respirator. 2. During assisted ventilation a gross deterioration in resistive load detection occurred. 3. The findings imply that active respiratory muscle contraction plays an essential role in the detection of added...

C ontemporary homes can include a number of electrical devices aimed at making life easier, such as washing machines, dishwashers and vacuum cleaners. One can also find devices aimed at improving lifestyle, such as exercise bicycles or rowing machines. However, one can also find other types of devices that are aimed at supporting or saving people's life. These can include continuous positive ai...

Respiratory involvement with amyloidosis typically involves the tracheobronchial tree or lung parenchyma. We describe a patient with systemic amyloidosis who was respirator-dependent because of extensive amyloid infiltration of the diaphragm, with no evidence of other pulmonary amyloidosis. Diaphragmatic myopathy from amyloid should be considered in respiratory failure in amyloidosis.

Protection of the human respiratory system from exposure to nanoparticles is becoming an emerging issue in occupational hygiene. The potential adverse health effects associated with particles of approximately 1-100 nm are probably greater than submicron or micron-sized particles. The performance of two models of N95 half-facepiece-filtering respirators against nano-sized particles was evaluated...

This study compared workplace protection factors (WPFs) for five different contaminants (endotoxin, fungal spores, (1→3)-β-D-glucan, total particle mass, and total particle number) provided by an N95 elastomeric respirator (ER) and an N95 filtering facepiece respirator (FFR). We previously reported size-selective WPFs for total particle numbers for the ER and FFR, whereas the current article is...

Concerns have been raised regarding the availability of National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-certified N95 filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) during an influenza pandemic. One possible strategy to mitigate a respirator shortage is to reuse FFRs following a biological decontamination process to render infectious material on the FFR inactive. However, little data exis...