National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL)
Respiratory Protection, where to begin —
Is your respirator NIOSH approved?
New! NIOSH ownership of respirator certification marks
Counterfeit respirators are products that are falsely marketed and sold as being NIOSH approved and may not be capable of providing appropriate respiratory protection to workers.
List of NIOSH-approved Filtering Facepiece Respirators
NIOSH Approved® N95 respiratory protective devices are the most common type of filtering facepiece respirator (FFR) used in U.S. workplaces. Our new video explains how to determine if an N95 FFR is NIOSH approved, including required labeling and where to look to confirm an approval number. It also provides tips for recognizing counterfeit and misrepresented respirators.
Small and disadvantaged workplaces often do not have the resources to conduct initial and annual respirator fit testing. We need innovators to design a respirator fit evaluation and feedback solution that delivers users real-time information on a filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) fit. NIOSH, Capital Consulting Corporation, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration recently launched a Respirator Fit Evaluation Challenge, a 3-phase challenge with a total of $350,000 in prize money. To learn more about the challenge, see the recording and slides from the February 2nd orientation webinar. Submission deadline for Phase 1 is May 1st, 2023 at 5 PM ET.
- Video – How to Tell if Your N95® Respirator is NIOSH Approved DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2023-120
- Announcement – Phase 1 Winners of NIOSH Counterfeit N95 Challenge
- CA 2023-1052R1 – Effective Immediately: Revocation of LiveFree Personal Protection LLP Approval, Supersedes CA 2023-1052
- CA 2023-1052 – Effective Immediately: Rescission of LiveFree Personal Protection LLP Approval
- CA 2023-1051 – Effective Immediately: Voluntary Rescission of RB Sigma, LLC Approval
- Press Release – NIOSH Launches New Crowdsourcing Competition to Improve Respirator Fit Evaluations
- P2022-0102 – Point-of-Use Assessment for Closed-Circuit Escape Respirators Sampled from Mines that use both Subpart O and Subpart H Approved Units: First Phase
Additional Key Resources
Personal Protective Equipment Key Resources
- NIOSH 42 CFR Part 84, Approval of Respiratory Protective Device
- Letters to Respirator Manufacturers and Interested Parties
- NPPTL Participation in Standard Development Committees
- Respiratory Protection Videos
- PPE CASE Notes
- Personal Protective Equipment Blogs
- Respirator Blogs
- MultiVapor™ Application
- NIOSH Respiratory Protection Week 2022
- NIOSH Publications
- Trending Resources
- NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards
N95 and NIOSH Approved are certification marks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) registered in the United States and several international jurisdictions.