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January 17, 2008

The color coding requirements of labels for canisters and cartridges as a means for secondary identification are referenced in paragraphs 84.113 and 84.193 of 42 CFR 84, respectively. The standard incorporated by reference is ANSI K-13.1 - 1973: American National Standard for identification of air-purifying respirator canisters and cartridges. It has been communicated to NIOSH that standard samples of colors specified for respirator labeling are not available. This letter includes information for the colors specified in 42 CFR 84 relevant to accessing reference colors. Equivalent designations for these colors in several color-defining systems are provided in Tables 1 and 3, as an attachment. Acceptable tolerances for each specified color are also provided in Table 2, as an attachment. Some resources for obtaining standards, reference colors and translation into other color systems are available in the additional notes. Any questions concerning this letter should be directed to the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, Policy and Standards Development Branch at 412-386-5200.

Sincerely yours,

Jonathan V. Szalajda
Chief, Policy and Standards Development Branch
National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory

Printer friendly version of the Colors for Respirator Element Labeling
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Table 1 - Colors Specified for Secondary Designation of Air-Purifying Elements ^a

^a Refer to ANSI K13.1-1973 and ANSI Z88.7-2001 for specific designations

^b Values were obtained through “ask a question” at http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/index.aspx. CIE equivalents for CIE illuminant D50 were also provided and are included in Table 3.

^c Obtained from ASTM D 1535-07 Table 2 for Munsell Notations in column 4. Another source is http://www.cis.rit.edu/mcsl/online/munsell_data/all.dat .  Values are for CIE illuminant C-2º.

^d sRGB, scaled to 255, estimates obtained from calculator available at www.easyrgb.com using CIE values in this table.

^e 42 CFR 84.179 (b) (3) states the color, magenta, which is considered equivalent to purple e.g. NIOSH TB Respiratory Protection Program in Health Care Facilities, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 99-143 p. 52.

Table 2 - Ranges for Colors specified in ANSI K 13.1—1973

^a Values were obtained from http://www.anthus.com/Colors/Cent.html.

^b Ranges were taken from charts in Chapter 13, Color: Universal Language and Dictionary of Names, by K. L. Kelly and D. B. Judd. National Bureau of Standards, Spec. Publ. 440, Dec. 1976.

^c An arrowhead indicates boundary not included in range: i.e. 3.5 < value ≤ 5.5.

Table 3 - CIE Equivalents for Pantone® Colors given in Table 1