When looking for a powered respirator, it’s important to ensure that you get the right product as per your requirements. Whether you need it for personal use or professional use, make sure to invest in a high-quality respirator. After all, these devices help in providing life-saving protection from life-threatening conditions. Powered respirators are your best choice when looking to keep yourself protected from harmful airborne particulates.
Continue reading this article to know the various factors to consider when buying a premium-grade respirator. But before let’s find out the significance of respiratory protection.
Significance of Respiratory Protection
Inhaling harmful substances may damage the delicate structures of the lungs. When the lungs get damaged, the risk of respiratory conditions increases. In many cases, respiratory conditions are incurable and even result in death. Some of these life-threatening conditions are cancers of the lungs.
To keep yourself protected from such conditions, it’s essential to use a respiratory protection device, also called a respirator. Using a powered respirator is useful in preventing a worker from inhaling contaminated air. It works by covering the wearer’s mouth and nose, or the entire face or head for protecting them against hazardous airborne contaminants.
Factors to keep in mind when buying a powered respirator
Here are some important factors to consider when choosing a powered respirator:
1. Filters
When buying a respirator, it’s vital to keep filter choice in mind. Some respirators come with one or two filters in a package. However, a user needs to ensure that filters or cartridges are easy-to-replace.
It is recommended to replace the filters of your respirators after each use. Another good suggestion is to make a replacement when it becomes difficult to breathe from the respirator’s filter. Otherwise, it won’t remain as effective as you want it to be.
2. Sizing
You need to choose a powered respirator that perfectly fits the user’s face. If a respirator cannot seal the wearer’s face properly, it not only becomes uncomfortable to wear but also useless. Without proper airtight protection, the hazardous particles that a respirator is supposed to filter will easily reach the user’s airway through the gaps. It usually happens when a mask is too big for a wearer.
If a mask wearer often finds it hard to get a regular respirator to fit their face, it’s best to find one with adjustable straps. Thanks to adjustable straps, a respirator can easily fit a wearer with a unique face shape without worrying about any leakage.
3. Reusability and respirator types
It is important to invest in respirators that are reusable and easy to use. But how to choose the right one? There are various types of respirators, like PAPRs, full facepieces, and combination respirators.
PAPR is a battery-powered air-fed mask for pulling air through attached filters. A full facepiece helps in covering the entire face (including the eyes, mouth, and nose) of a wearer. And, combination respirator contains a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) that also works as a PAPR, so if one mechanism fails, another can work effectively.
4. Particulates and gas type rating
You also need to consider the respirator’s particulate and gas type rating, such as NBC and CRBN. NBC respirator rating stands for nuclear, biological, and chemical agents. On the other hand, CBRN refers to chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear agents.
When a respirator has NBC or CRBN rating, it means it can easily filter our airborne particulate matter within certain categories. Many respirators today come with a CRBN rating, while some respirators even have an NBC rating. So, it is essential to know what a particular rating stands for.
5. Seal Effectiveness
Users need to ensure that their respirator is tight-fitting, as it ensures the effectiveness of its seal. Even a user needs to be clean-shaven at all times to ensure the effectiveness of their respirator. It is because even a few hours of facial hair growth may break the respirator’s seal and put the user at risk of inhaling contaminants.
The seal can even lose its effectiveness after the wearer’s weight gain/loss, as it tends to change their face shape. This further put them at high risk of not wearing the respirator accurately. To make sure the respirator is well-fitted, users must undergo fit testing and even complete proper fitting checks every time they wear it.
Otherwise, choose advanced-powered respirators that don’t rely on a seal. So, operators can even wear them comfortably even with facial hair without compromising their safety.
Conclusion
The powered respirator you choose can make a huge difference between making you reach safely at home or making you suffer from short or long-term health conditions. So, it is best to consider the given factors to ensure you invest in the best respirator to keep yourself protected from harmful airborne particles.
