3M Proteção Respiratória

TECHNICAL UPDATE
Respiratory Protection -
Basic Information
Providing respiratory protection for workers is part of the duty of care of the employer in the mod-
ern industrial situation. In Australia, there are various state and commonwealth laws that mandate the
use of controls to provide a safe workplace. Employers are required to use appropriate means to prevent
health hazards to the workers. This includes measures like use of low toxicity materials, provision of
engineering controls like extract ventilation and enclosures and, as a final resort, the use of personal
protective equipment.
Respiratory protection is necessary in many workplace situations because engineering controls

are not available, are impractical or are too expensive to implement in the short or medium term. Each
workplace will have its own problems and hazards and will require assessment by a suitably qualified
person like an occupational hygienist to determine if there is a need for respiratory protection and, if so,
what specific types of respirators are needed.
Guidance for the appropriate use of respiratory equipment is given in Australian Standard AS/
NZS1715 “Selection, use and maintenance of respiratory protective devices”. This gives the framework
to look at a respiratory problem, identify the hazards and then covers the various options available to
deal with the problem.
There are a number of basic requirements needed to assess a respiratory hazard. The first is to
identify the contaminant, and then to quantify the amounts of the airborne contaminant in the working
environment. In some cases, this may require the use of an occupational hygienist, who will have the
knowledge and equipment to measure the airborne concentrations of the materials in question, and to
make informed recommendations as to the appropriate responses to the hazard.
Common contaminants found in many workplaces can include:

• “Nuisance” dusts – small particles that, at high concentrations, clog up the airways of the lungs and
create discomfort and breathing difficulty e.g. rock dust, dirt.
• Toxic dusts – particles that are toxic to the body and can cause local or remote effects to the body
after being inhaled into the lungs e.g. asbestos, silica.
• Irritant gases – gases that are water-soluble and cause irritation to the upper respiratory tract eg
ammonia.
• Asphyxiants – gases that interfere with the supply of oxygen to the body. They can be simple, such
as an inert gas like nitrogen that can dilute the oxygen in the air to a dangerously low level. Or they
can be chemical asphyxiants like carbon monoxide or hydrogen cyanide, which are taken up into
the bloodstream in preference to oxygen, causing the body’s organs to shut down due to lack of
oxygen supply.
• Anaesthetics – many organic solvents e.g. petrol, ethanol, benzene, are readily absorbed from the
lungs into the bloodstream. They are then carried around the body and can cause damage to or-
gans like the brain and the liver. They can depress the operation of the central nervous system and
at high levels cause paralysis and death.
• Sensitisers – these can cause allergic asthma-type reactions, after an individual is exposed and is
sensitised e.g. isocyanates, some timbers.
TECHNICAL UPDATE
Basic Information
After identifying the type and magnitude of the respiratory hazard, suitable respiratory equipment for these conditions should be iden-
tified. Normally there will be a number of options, depending on the local conditions, wear time, cost and other factors which will help to de-
cide the appropriate equipment. Sometimes, there will be State regulations that require a certain type of protection for a specific substance
eg spraying isocyanates must be done wearing an airline system with clean air supplied from a compressor or air bottles.
All respirators used should comply with the requirements of AS/NZS1716 “Respiratory protective devices, which specifies the tests
and performance criteria for all respirators to be used in the workplace. This sets the level of performance in terms of what each type of res-
pirator product must be able to do and the performance characteristics needed.
Various types of filters are produced specifically for use against various contaminants and are tested and marked accordingly. For
gas/vapour hazards there are many types:
Type Target gas/vapour

A Organic vapours with boiling points > 650C
B Acid Gases
E Sulphur Dioxide
G Low vapour pressure materials (< 1.3 Pa) – this includes many agricultural chemicals
K Ammonia
Hg Mercury
There are also several other types for other specific chemicals. All of these rated filters are tested against a suitable test gas to de-
termine their performance and minimum service life.
All gas/vapour filters are also rated for absorptive capacity. In increasing capacity these are Class Aus, Class 1, Class 2 and Class 3
filters. Therefore, for example, you can get an A1 filter or a B(Aus) or a combination A2B1. The higher the class, the higher the concentration
they are able to deal with when fitted on the appropriate type of respirator.
For protection from particulates, there are three classes of filters under AS/NZS1716 – called P1, P2 and P3.
P1 – used for mechanically generated particles eg silica, dusts, powders.

P2 – used for mechanically and thermally generated dusts eg welding fume, metal fume.
P3 – used for all particulates requiring high protection factors.
The performance of particulate filters is determined by testing the penetration the filter by a sodium chloride aerosol of 0.02-0.2 mi-
cron equivalent diameter and ~0.3-0.6 micron mass median diameter - which is the most penetrating particle size for filters at breathing flow
rates.
TECHNICAL UPDATE
Basic Information
The choice of filter and mask will depend on the airborne concentration of the contaminant e.g.:
for silica dust – a P1 half face respirator will be suitable. This type of filter will capture the particles effec-
tively - so a simple half face disposable type mask fitted and worn appropriately will be suitable.
However, for say, asbestos stripping work, where very high levels of fibres are normal, a full
facemask or Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR) fitted with P3 filters is needed. PAPR’s provide a
number of advantages compared to tight fitting facemasks. These include:
· No breathing resistance
· Moving airflow provides cooling effect
· Does not rely on a tight faceseal so can be used by those with beards etc.
· Can include multi layered protection e.g. head, eye and face.
AS/NZS1715 gives guidance on the type(s) of respirator appropriate for use by indicating the
level of protection that each type gives – the protection factor is a measure of the effectiveness of that
type of respirator/filter/air supply combination e.g. for mechanically created particles, a half mask (P1 or
P2) gives a 10 times protection factor (ie it reduces the airborne concentration of the particles by a factor
of 10), while a full facemask will give 50 times protection factor with P2 filters fitted. A PAPR like the
Airstream AH12 fitted with a PAPR-P2 filter gives a protection factor of 50. These factors have been
calculated by doing workplace studies and measuring the performance of the various types of equipment
and then introducing a safety factor.
So by knowing the airborne concentrations in the workplace and applying the information in-
cluded in AS/NZS1715, an employer can select a respiratory product that will reduce exposures to an
acceptable level.
For the employer or worker who is not familiar with the various factors and product features nec-
essary to choose the correct respiratory protection for their applications, 3M Australia has a TechAssist
Hotline (1800 024 464) that is available to purchasers/users of 3M products. Advice and guidance is
available to assist in providing the end user with the information needed to obtain appropriate respiratory
protection for the task at hand.
How to contact us:

3M Tech Assist Hotline
Phone 1800 024 464
_______________________
3M Australia Pty Ltd Customer Ser-

vice
Phone 1300 363 565
Fax 1800 656 222
©Copyright 3M Australia Pty. Limited 2007 _______________________
Neither whole or part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission
March 2007
3M Australia Pty Ltd
Phone 136 136
_______________________
World Wide Web

www.3m.com/au/ohs
_______________________

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TECHNICAL UPDATE

Respiratory protection is necessary in many workplace situations because engineering controls

Common contaminants found in many workplaces can include:

Type Target gas/vapour

P1 – used for mechanically generated particles eg silica, dusts, powders.

How to contact us:

3M Australia Pty Ltd Customer Ser-

World Wide Web

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