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Major article| Volume 41, ISSUE 1, P24-27, January 2013

Pulmonary and heart rate responses to wearing N95 filtering facepiece respirators

  • Jung-Hyun Kim
    Affiliations
    National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pittsburgh, PA
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  • Stacey M. Benson
    Affiliations
    National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pittsburgh, PA
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  • Raymond J. Roberge
    Correspondence
    Address correspondence to Raymond J. Roberge, MD, MPH, National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, 626 Cochrans Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236.
    Affiliations
    National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pittsburgh, PA
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Published:September 03, 2012DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2012.02.037

      Background

      Filtering facepiece respirators are the most common respirator worn by US health care and industrial workers, yet little is known on the physiologic impact of wearing this protective equipment.

      Methods

      Twenty young, healthy subjects exercised on a treadmill at a low-moderate (5.6 km/h) work rate while wearing 4 different models of N95 filtering facepiece respirators for 1 hour each, 2 models of which were equipped with exhalation valves, while being monitored for physiologic variables.

      Results

      Compared with controls, respirator use was associated with mean 1 hour increases in heart rate (range, 5.7-10.6 beats per minute, P < .001), respiratory rate (range, 1.4-2.4 breaths per minute, P < .05), and transcutaneous carbon dioxide (range, 1.7-3.0 mm Hg, P < .001). No significant differences in oxygen saturation between controls and respirators were noted (P > .05).

      Conclusion

      The pulmonary and heart rate responses to wearing a filtering facepiece respirator for 1 hour at a low-moderate work rate are relatively small and should generally be well tolerated by healthy persons.

      Key Words

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