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Assessment of respirators among agricultural workers.

Merchant-JA; Popendorf-WJ; Burmeister-LF; Leonard-S; Ueda-A

Institute of Agricultural Medicine and Occupational Health, Department of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 1989 Sep; :1-73

00197341

The quantitative performance of half mask respirators used in agricultural settings by workers with mixed experience in wearing respirators was comparable to that found in other field studies. The overall acceptability of the three classes of respirators varied considerably among the settings tested with grain handlers preferring the half mask, poultry operators preferring the powered helmet, and swine producers preferring the disposable. Among all groups of workers, powered helmets were rated best for breathing ease, communication ease, skin comfort, and in mask temperature and humidity while disposables were rated best for weight and convenience. The use of preshift and post shift lung function as a quantitative physiological measurement of respiratory protection proved to be satisfactory in that it provided statistically significant differences over brief exposures and with modest changes in lung function.

NIOSH-Grant; Respirators; Respiratory-protective-equipment; Personal-protective-equipment; Agricultural-workers; Pulmonary-function-tests

Prev Med & Environmental Hlth University of Iowa College of Medicine Iowa City, Iowa 52242

19890929

Final Grant Report

254103.00

Grant

1989

PB91-173815

A05

Grant-Number-R01-OH-01650

OEP

Respirator Research; Respirators; Control Technology and Personal Protective Equipment; Research Tools and Approaches

Institute of Agricultural Medicine and Occupational Health, Department of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa

IA; GA

University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa