呼吸追随型電動ファン付全面マスクの防護性能試験

Evaluation of protection factors of a breath-responsive-powered air-purifying respirator

中川 雅博 ; 野嶋 峻; 藤井 克年 ; 宍戸 宣仁; 酒井 俊也; 梅原 隆; 清水 勇

Nakagawa, Masahiro; Nojima, Shun; Fujii, Katsutoshi; Shishido, Nobuhito; Sakai, Toshiya; Umehara, Takashi; Shimizu, Isamu

内部被ばくを防護する手段として防塵マスク等の呼吸用保護具の着用がある。呼吸用保護具の一種として、電動ファン付呼吸用保護具があるが、近年では、着用時の呼吸を補助し、バッテリーやフィルタの消耗を抑える呼吸追随型電動ファン付全面マスクが開発されている。本試験では、呼吸追随型電動ファン付全面マスクについて、マンテスト装置を用いて防護性能試験を行い、ファンのない全面マスクと比較するとともに放射線作業において使用する際の着用基準となる防護係数の算出を行った。測定終了後にはマスク着用時の作業者の負担に関するアンケート調査を行った。試験の結果、呼吸追随型電動ファン付全面マスクはファンのない全面マスクと比較して安定した防護性能を維持でき、着用基準として防護係数2000以上の設定が可能であることが確認できた。また、アンケート調査により着用時の作業者の負担軽減が確認できた。

It is essential to wear an air-purifying respirator in the radiation works in a contaminated atmosphere. A breath-responsive-powered air-purifying respirator (BR-PAPR) has been recently developed. However, no research has yet been conducted to determine the protection factor (PF) of the BR-PAPR in actual workplaces. In this study, the PFs of the BR-PAPR were measured by a man-test apparatus and compared with those of a non-powered full face mask. The PFs were measured under three different situations; normal wearing condition, clogging the filter and leaving a gap between the face and the mask. Under these situations, it was found that the PFs of the BR-PAPR are higher than those of the non-powered full face mask. PFs greater than 4000 were obtained for 95% of the subjects who wear the BR-PAPR, and PFs over 6667, the upper limit of the man-test apparatus, were obtained for 49% of them. The questionnaire survey was conducted for workers. The results showed that the workers feel a reduced burden when they wear the BR-PAPR. The results of this study showed high protection performance and operation efficiency of the BR-PAPR.