The Importance of Fit-Testing Particulate Filtering Facepiece Respirators!

Filtering facepiece respirators should protect people in healthcare settings and in research and diagnostic laboratories from infection from biological agents or from other hazardous particles. To ensure sufficient personal protection, a properly fitting respirator is imperative. However, data about the usefulness of testing the proper fit of such respirators conflict. Some data from health care settings indicate no difference in performance when the respirators were fit-tested or not fit-tested, but other data suggest better performance when respirators were fit-tested. The goal of this study was to quantitatively test in a laboratory environment the fitting of different filtering facepiece type 3 (FFP3) respirators from various manufacturers and to determine the parameters that are important for a good fit-factor. Another aim was to identify the best-fitting respirator for individuals who wear FFP3 respirators during their daily work in a laboratory/animal room environment. The quantitative fit-testing of respirators was performed using a TSI Portacount®Pro+ Respirator Fit Tester (TSI Incorporated, Shoreview, MN). Fourteen individuals at two different Swiss institutions were tested with 10 different commercially available FFP3 respirators. Only 2 of 14 individuals passed the fit-test with all 10 respirators, and 2 of 14 individuals passed the fit-test with only three respirators. Performance of the respirators varied greatly for the different individuals, and the findings show that several factors contribute to the fitting of a respirator, such as the type of the respirator and the proper donning of the respirator. Study results confirm that a respirator fit-test is necessary because workers often fail to achieve sufficient protection with their respirators.