This study was designed to investigate qualitatively whether respirators now being used in workplaces tit workers fifaces well or not. Leak sites were determined after exposing the subjects to fluorescent aerosol and were analyzed by gender, brand and manufacturing nation.
The results were as follows ;
1. Among those leak sites which were classified into four areas(nose, cheek, lip and chin), test aerosol was mostly deposited on the nose and the cheek areas.
2. The mean number of leak sites observed from the female subjects were 2.3 while the number were 2.2 from the male subjects. The most frequently observed leak site was nose and followed by chin, lip and cheek in descending order of frequency.
3. Among different brands of respirators, different leak sites were observed. Test subjects wearing the S and N brands were more heavily exposed than those of wearing the D and M brands.
4. No significant difference of the number of leak sites were found between Korean-made and American-made masks. However, the most frequent leak site observed for the Korean-made ones was the nose area while it was the chin area for the American-made ones.
5. Analyses of 97 leak sites by shape showed that 27(27.8%) were point types, 54(55.7%) diffuse types and 16(16.5%) streamline types.
6. Test subjects indicated that the facepieces of Korean-made respirators were harder and smaller in size than those of American-made one. The most comfortable respirator selected was the respirator by the N Co. and the most uncomfortable one was the respirator by the D Co.
This study suggests that many half-mask respirators now being used in the workplaces may not fit to workers well. Therefore, when selecting respirators, employers are advised to test respirators if they fit to workers well. And manufacturers are recommended to produce effective and comfortable respirators tested qualitatively and quantitatively not only in the laboratory but also in the field.
|