Basic Characteristics of PPE (II): Industrial Applications

Abstract

In respiratory protection, choosing the right respiratory protective equipment (RPE) in a specific work environment is extremely important. This is a process that involves well-defined legislations regulated by governments and public authorities that is based on an objective evaluation of the risk (known as risk assessment), the use of threshold limit values (TLVs) related to a specific substance and protection factors (PF) peculiar of the RPE type. The regulations are mandatory and must be applied by employers, which are responsible for the implementation and compliance of the regulation by the employees. Such a system permits to monitor and enhance occupational safety and health, helping to gain recognition of the importance in protecting the individual worker.

Only few areas in the world have recognized the same relevance in the protection of citizens against air pollution; the increasing concern for the effect of air pollution on the human body is manifested by the growing use of RPE on a daily basis. It is possible to use simple arguments to define which RPE, among the devices available on the market, is better to use against air pollution. Yet, the same rules that are enforced in the industrial workplace cannot be transferred in the everyday life, above all because of the diversity of medical and physical conditions of the population exposed to the polluted air. Therefore it becomes necessary to define standardized characteristics of the antipollution devices, in order to give clear guidelines both to the citizens and to the RPE manufacturers and in order to prevent the spread of products unsuitable for the required protection.