Filtration respirators

This is important for chemical releases involving fires and corrosive materials. Filtration respirators are not appropriate in this area because (1) the atmosphere may be oxygen deficient as a result of the fire, and (2) filtration canisters do not remove carbon monoxide, one of the main risks in products of combustion. In a warm zone, however, where oxygen levels are normal and there is no carbon monoxide risk, level-A suits are not required and level-C protection is appropriate This protection uses a lightweight suit with a filtration respirator giving mobility, dexterity and communication potential. It is the type of protection that should be used by emergency medical personnel involved in chemical release incidents (see Box 2). 

Figure 5. Reception and decontamination facilities at a Paris Plan Biotox reference hospital the emergency physicians are wearing level-C protection, stored at the hospital, with filtration respirators. Figure supplied by David Baker...

Hot zone working has always been regarded as the job of the fire services who are equipped to face any degree of toxicity and corrosiveness presented by the released chemical. Firemen are used to wearing self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) supplied with air from bottles or airlines since they are exposed to carbon monoxide and smoke products of combustion as a regular hazard from firefighting. Importantly, carbon monoxide, a major toxic hazard of combustion, is not absorbed by filtration respirators. 

In contrast to the civihan situation, the military have traditionally taken a different approach to PPE since carbon monoxide is not usually a battlefield hazard and self-contained breathing apparatus is not easily deployed in the field. Thus, military PPE uses relatively hghtweight suits with filtration respirators where ambient air is filtered through a cartridge containing activated charcoal mixed with... 

Although there are many pathways for toxic agents to enter the body, the main danger for mass exposure is the respiratory route. Reduction of exposure in this way can be achieved by the use of personal protective equipment. The main component of this for medical emergency teams is a filtration respirator. 

Fig. 5.4 Reception and decontamination facilities for toxic trauma casualties at a French hospital designated for the reception of chemical casualties. Access to the hospital is through one specific entrance for contaminated casualties. The emergency physicians are wearing level C protection with filtration respirators stored at the hospital (photograph courtesy of SAMU de Paris)...

The Iran-Iraq war provided the first wartime casualties from the use of nerve agents who were documented and treated by well-trained physicians using modern equipment. The use of modem antidotes and life support measures kept the mortality low. Personal protective equipment was available but there was a failure of protection with filtration respirators due to the fact that many of the soldiers had beards. The low dead-to-wounded ratio (<2 %) reflected the immediate and continuing respiratory and antidote care provided. 

Personal protective ensembles for chemical agents are effective against biological agents also. Military filtration respirators are designed to cope with both classes of hazard. Level C protection is the most suitable or level D with... 

Medical uses for Udel resin include surgical trays, nebulizers, flow controllers for blood, and respiration regulators. Transportation applications center around automotive fuse housings, electrical connectors, and switches. Electrical and electronic end uses include coil bobbins, housings, connectors, bushings, capacitor film, and business machine parts. EinaHy, water, heater dip tubes, milking machine parts, pollution control equipment, and some filtration membranes are made. 

Air-purifying respirator A respirator that removes airborne contaminants, such as particulates, gases, vapors and fumes, from ambient air through filtration, absorption, adsorption, or chemical reactions on the media contained in the cartridge or filter. 

Brown and Berni (26) developed a novel method to separate fine dusts (in the respirable range) from cotton trash material. The dust is separated on sieves by mechanical agitation. The trash typically consists of condenser filter cake material collected by an air filtration system attached to a processing unit such as a... 

Intermediary metabolism of irradiated tissues was examined to attempt to explain the increased respiration on the basis of biochemical mechanics. In these experiments carrot disks 0.5 mm. thick were prepared as before and subjected to substrate utilization studies (9). This involved incubating the slices with the appropriately labeled substrate in 0.03M phospate buffer at 25°C. The incubation involves shaking with gentle aeration and trapping the respired CO2 in alkali. Following incubation the slices were removed, washed, ground with 80% ethanol, and filtered, and both the filtrate and residue were assayed for radioactivity. Thus, a measure of substrate absorption and utilization was determined. 

Small Quantities. Wear nitrile rubber gloves, eye protection, laboratory coat, and respirator (or work in hood). The selenium salt is dissolved in water and the solution is neutralized by the addition of 1 M NaOH (prepared by dissolving 4 g of NaOH in 100 mL of water) or 1 M sulfuric acid (prepared by cautiously adding 5 mL of concentrated acid to 85 mL of cold water). A 1 M solution of sodium sulfide (prepared by dissolving 7.8 g of Na2S in 100 mL of water) is added to the selenium salt solution and the pH is again adjusted to neutral with 1 M sulfuric acid solution. The precipitate is separated by filtration or decantation. Wash, dry, and recycle or send for disposal in a secure landfill.1 ... 

Numerous nonplasticizer uses of DEHP have been reported. However, it is not clear to what extent these uses arc, or have ever been, important. These include 1he use of DEHP as a solvent in erasable ink, as an acaracide in orchards, as an inert ingredient in pesticide products, in cosmetics, in vacuum pump oil, as a component of dielectric fluids in electrical capacitors, to detect leaks in respirators, and for use in testing of air filtration systems (HSDB 1990 Mannsville Chemical Products Corporation 1990 NTP 1989). 

A. Filtration. In a small scale emergency, water may be decontaminated by running it through a spare unused respirator canister, provided that the flow rate is such that the water emerges drop by drop any water coming through at first faster than this should be discarded. No more than 5 liters should be filtered with one canister. The canister cannot be used on a respirator after being used for this purpose. 

Wagner HN Jr (1995) Regional ventilation and perfusion. In Wagner HN Jr, Szabo S, Buchanan JW (eds) Principles of nuclear medicine, 2nd edn. Saunders, Philadelphia, pp 887-895 Wanner A (1977) Clinical aspects of mucociliary transport. Amer Rev Respir Dis 116 73-125 Wassner SJ (1981) Assessment of glomerular filtration rate using single injection of technetium Tc-99m pentetate. Am J Dis Child 135 374-375... 

Cahill TA, Ashbaugh LL, Baeone JB, Eldeed RA, Eeeney PJ, Elogghini RG, Goodaet Ch, Shaddoan DJ and Wolle FW (1977) Analysis of respirable fractions in atmospheric particulates via sequentied filtration. J Air Pollut Control Assoc 27 675-678. 

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