When you
are exposed to asbestos, silica, or other dusts that can cause cancer
at levels above the allowable exposure limits - and there is no other
way to keep the exposure levels down to safe levels - NIOSH recommends
that you use a respirator. For low-level exposures, high efficiency filter
respirators can protect you. (These are N-, R-, or P-100 filters for non-powered
respirators and HE filters for powered respirators.) For high exposures,
you will need positive-pressure supplied air. NIOSH, the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health, is part of the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC).
OSHA requires a respirator for most work with asbestos.
If you use a filter respirator, whether you need an N-, R-, or P-series
filter depends on whether there are oil particles where you are working
- If there are no
oil particles in the work area, it's OK to use a filter of any series
- N-, R-, or P-.
- If there may be
oil particles where you are working - for instance, in lubricants, cutting
fluids, or glycerine - you cannot use an N filter. Use an R- or P- filter.
- If there may be
oil particles and the filter will be used for more than one work shift,
use only a P- filter.
To help remember which
filter to use, think of:
N for Not
resistant to oil,
R for Resistant to oil
P for oil Proof
If you use a respirator,
use one that is NIOSH approved. (If a respirator is NIOSH approved, chemical
cartridges, particulate filters, and the box it comes in will say "NIOSH."
Self-contained breathing apparatus will have a NIOSH label on the backpack.)
And check the NIOSH-approved instructions for the model you are using.
This information is from the NIOSH website: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/respsumm.html
The OSHA asbestos regulation is at http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10862.
Or, contact your local OSHA office, listed at http://www.osha.gov/html/oshdir.html
This paper appears in the eLCOSH website with the permission of the author
and/or copyright holder and may not be reproduced without their consent.
eLCOSH is an information clearinghouse. eLCOSH and its sponsors are not
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