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NOTE: This document is provided for historical purposes only.
In my personal opinion, a national stockpile of elastomeric half mask respirators with combination OV/P100 protection qualities should be cached at the top 15 most populous cities in the United States, at the minimum. A size tariff and lot number logistic management perspective should be used to account for the respirators while they are in contingency storage for the next 10 calendar years. Rationale for this stockpile is based on current and projected international public health workplace indicators and threat indicators provided by the U.S. Departments of Health/Human Services, Justice, and Defense. Regardless of the type of respirator recommended for national "widespread" use by private public and government civilians, all personnel identified to require or voluntarily use any type of NIOSH-approved respirator should undergo initial and periodic medical evaluation and successfully pass a recognized "goodness" fit test method for validation of the respirator design intended to be used by the identified members of the service sector and community settings. Policy focused on defining widespread community use of NIOSH-approved respirators requires consensus from federal and industry based stakeholders before implementation.
Implementation would require a new Code of Federal Register (CFR) specific to the performance and technical standards of a respirator intended for widespread public use.
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