-Dr. Prashant Sharma MS, General Surgery, JNMC Belagavi Karnataka

5. PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE)
• "PPE", is equipment worn to minimize exposure to a variety of hazards.
• PPE also referred to as “equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from
injury or
infection”.
• The hazards may be from physical, electrical, heat, chemicals, biohazards, and
airborne
particulate matter.
• Examples of PPE: Masks, gloves, ear plugs, helmets, goggles, full body suits and etc.

6. WHAT IS P1 OR P2 PROTECTION?
 P1 - For filtering mechanically generated particles – Which meets
AS/NZS1716:2003
– Example : Particles formed by crushing, grinding, drilling, sanding and
cutting.
 P2 is - for filtering mechanically and thermally generated particles – Which
meets AS/NZS1716:2003
– Example: Welding fume, against some bio aerosols such as
H1N1 and H5N1 Influenza.

7. CLASSIFICATION OF FACE MASK
 Based on the function:
– Comfort mask
– Surgical face mask
– Surgical Respirators
– Particulate respirators
 Based on usage
– Disposable
– Reusable

8. RESPIRATORY PROTECTION

9. INTRODUCTION
• The typical respiratory rate for a healthy adult at rest is 12–20 breaths per minute.
• A 70 kg human breathes 20 m3 /day. This shows the importance of air purification in human life.
• Air pollution from dust is an essential threat to human health.
• The process of removal of dispersed particles in the air by the porous medium is called filtration.
• Dispersed particles may be solids or liquids, whereas the dispersing medium may be gas (mostly
air) or liquid.
• Nonwovens are the basic material used for purifying air from aerosol impurities in the form of
solid or liquid particles.
• The porous media used in the filtration process are differentiated by structure, which can be
fibrous, granular, and capillary.

11. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MASKS AND RESPIRATORS

12. CLASSIFICATION OF RESPIRATORS
• FFP1 RESPIRATORS – Suitable for lower filtering efficiency and protection factor.

13. • FFP3 RESPIRATORS - For highest levels of filtering efficiency and protection factor.

14. RESPIRATOR FABRIC STRUCTURE
 It consists of 3 layers
• Nonwoven needle felt or melt blown middle layer
• Surrounded by spun bonded inner and outer layer.

15. NEEDLE PUNCHED FILTER FABRIC
INFLUENCING PARAMETERS ON FILTRATION EFFICIENCY:
 Fibre diameter, areal density, thickness of the filtration layer, and the fibre blend's composition.
 Effect of filtration is maintained by these non woven are at least five months after manufacturing.
 The air flow resistance for the above-mentioned nonwovens is not higher than 51 Pa.

16. PARTICULATE RESPIRATORS

17. VALVED RESPIRATORS

19. SPECIFICATIONS OF RESPIRATORS
An N95 respirator – PPE designed to achieve a very close facial fit and very
efficient filtration of airborne particles.
The following notations are called for respirator description.
• N – Not Resistant to Oil
• R – Somewhat Resistant to Oil
• P – Strongly Resistant to Oil (Oil Proof)
N95 respirators remove at least 95% of airborne particles with a size of 300nm
(0.3 micron).
N99 respirators remove at least 99% of airborne particles.
N100 respirators remove at least 99.97% of airborne particles.

20. N95 vs. FFP3 & FFP2
• The most commonly discussed respirator type is N95. This is an American standard managed
by NIOSH – part of the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
• Europe uses two different standards. The “filtering face piece” score (FFP) comes from EN
standard 149:2001. Then EN 143 standard covers P1/P2/P3 ratings. Both standards are maintained
by CEN (European Committee for Standardization).

21. • As you can see, the closest European equivalent to N95 are FFP2 / P2 rated respirators, which are rated at
94%, compared to the 95% of N95.
• Similarly, the closest to N100 are P3 rated respirators – with FFP3 following closely behind.
• You could approximate things to say:

22. KN95 vs N95
• According to 3M, the Chinese KN95 standard has an equivalent specification to N95/FFP2
respirators . To quote:
• In practice the issue is more complex, and I wouldn’t take for granted that all KN95 respirators
are up to the same standard.
“It is reasonable to consider China KN95, AS/NZ P2,
Korea 1st Class, and Japan DS FFRs as equivalent to US
NIOSH N95 and European FFP2 respirators”

23. Things to watch out for:
 Typically KN95 respirators are held in place by over-ear elastic loops, rather than behind the head
elastics. This can result in a weaker seal.
 There’s no guarantee that all KN95 respirators actually meet the Chinese KN95 standard.
 However, with the current respirator shortage, unfortunately the same goes for N95/FFP also.

24. ARE N95/N100 ACTUALLY BETTER THAN FFP2/P3?
• Not necessarily, it’s important to note that these standards only specify the minimum % of
particles that the respirator filters.
• For example, if a mask is FFP2 rated, it will filter at least 94% of particles that are 0.3 microns in
diameter or larger. But in practice it will filter somewhere between 94% and 99%. The precise
figure will often be quoted by the manufacturer in the product description.
• A good example is the GVS Elipse respirator, which in the USA is rated at P100 (99.7%), and in
Europe is rated at P3 (99.95%). In practice it’s likely to have the same filtering capacity in both
regions.

25. HOW BIG IS THE CORONAVIRUS, AND CAN RESPIRATORS FILTER IT?
• Respirators with high efficiency at 0.3 micron particle size (N95/FFP2 or better) can in theory filter particles
down to the size of the coronavirus (which is around 0.1 microns).
• A recent paper shows that the coronavirus ranges from between 0.06 and 0.14 microns in size.
• The reason for the focus on 0.3 microns is because it is the “most penetrating particle size” (MPPS). Particles
above this size move in ways we might anticipate, and will get trapped in a filter with gaps smaller than the
particle size. Particles smaller than 0.3 microns exhibit what’s called brownian motion – which makes them
easier to filter.

26. • Brownian motion refers to a phenomenon whereby the particle’s mass is small enough that it no longer travels
unimpeded through the air. Instead it interacts with the molecules in the air (nitrogen, oxygen, etc), causing it
to pinball between them, moving in an erratic pattern.
• What we can take away from this, is that high filter efficiency at 0.3 micron size will generally translate to
high filter efficiency below this size also.
• An article by 3M discusses research showing that all 6 of the N95 respirators they tested can efficiently filter
lower than 0.1 micron size with approximately 94% efficiency or higher. The graph below is from that article,
and illustrates this:
According to researchers this point between “normal” motion and
brownian motion is the hardest particle size for filters to capture.

27. • The below image shows the size of the coronavirus, relative to other small molecules like a red blood cell,
or the often talked about PM2.5 particle size.

29. RISKS WITH USING RESPIRATORS
There are a number of possible risks with respirators that it’s worth being aware of,
so that you can avoid making them.
1. Not fitting and wearing respirators correctly – A respirator can’t fully protect
you if it doesn’t fit your face.
2. Touching the front of the respirator (which catches viruses etc) and then
transferring that to other objects, which could eventually lead back to your mouth
and nose.
3. Taking unnecessary exposure risks because you’re wearing a respirator. Don’t
let it give you false confidence. The safest thing is maintaining social distance.

30. SURGICAL MASKS
• A surgical mask is a loose-fitting, disposable
device that creates a physical barrier between
the mouth/nose of the wearer and potential
contaminants in the immediate environment.
• It also prevent patients from direct transmission
of infectious agents from health care
professionals or the surgical area.
• Surgical masks are not PPE as defined under the
European Directive 89/686.

31. FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS OF SURGICAL MASK
 Prevent the spread of infection between sick and well persons.
 Simple surgical masks should protect wearers from being splashed
with body fluids.
 Prevent transmission of body fluids from the medical professional to
the patient.
 Should have sufficient filtration efficiency to Bacterial and aerosol
particles.

32. DESIGN REQUIREMENTS
 Should have fluid proof and splash resistance to blood and body fluids.
 Should have pleats/folds – For allowing the user to expand the mask so as to
cover the nose and under the chin.
 Commonly 3 pleated are used.
 Should have stability during breathing, – i.e. The mask should maintain its shape
in a better way during breath.
 Should have minimum pore size for efficient filtration.
 In case of higher filtrations, 3 ply material is made up from a melt blown placed
between spun bonded non-woven fabric, – the melt-blown material acts as the
filter that stops microbes from entering or exiting the mask.
 Should have additional filtration media for effective filtration (Optional).

33. ERGONOMIC REQUIREMENTS
Should be breathable and have less breathing resistance.
Loosely cover the mouth and nose.
It should have two headbands, nose foam and nose clip.
Should have elastic strap band instead of tie-on strap.
Made of soft materials and be comfortable to wear.
Should be light in weight

34. STRUCTURE OF SURGICAL MASK

35. SPUN BONDED NON WOVEN FABRIC
Raw materials:
• polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polypropylene.
Bonding method:
• Thermal bonding or resin bonding
• Bonding should be throughout the web
Benefits
• Soft on skin
• Disposable
• Air permeable
• Water proof
• Can be sanitized
• Easy to stitch
GSM Range: 15 - 30

36. PROPERTIES OF SPUN BOND NON WOVEN FABRIC

37. MELT BLOWN NON WOVEN FABRIC
Composed of super-thin, non-continuous fibres.
Melt-blown nonwoven are characterised by random arrangement of fibres.
Stability is achieved mainly by the cohesion forces, as the fibres are mutually
glued during solidification.
Polypropylene (PP) has a low melting point and is the most popular polymer for
melt-blown nonwovens.
The following polymers can also be used:
 polyethylene terephthalate (PET),
 polyamide (PA) and its copolymers,
 polyethylene (PE),
 polycarbonates (PCs),
 simple and complex polyurethanes (PU).

38. PROPERTIES OF MELT BLOWN NON WOVEN FABRIC

39. WHAT SHOULD I KNOW BEFORE USING SURGICAL MASKS?
• Surgical masks will not fully protect you from being infected.
• Masks must be changed when they become wet with saliva or other bodily fluids,
as they lose their protective properties.
• Surgical masks are not tested against specific requirements.
• Never reuse, wash or disinfect surgical masks.
• Never share surgical masks with others.
• Place used or soiled masks into a tied plastic bag to prevent dripping.