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People often ask us about asbestos-rated respirators. Everyone knows airborne asbestos, even in small quantities, is scary stuff. It can be very damaging to the lungs and is known to cause cancer. If you have work where you suspect or know for sure asbestos is present, you need to be extremely vigilant about using the proper safety equipment and making sure it is working perfectly. Because of the serious nature of asbestos removal, OSHA and other work safety standard agencies have exten …

Mold doesn't need much to get started. Supplied with a little moisture and some warmth it's very hard to completely eradicate once it gets started. In situations where there are large areas of mold, or when flooding or plumbing problems have occurred, it's important to follow recommended safety procedures while completing your work. There are a few basic precautions everyone working in moldy areas should follow. First, avoid breathing in mold or mold spores. Undisturbed, mold isn't like …

Tyvek suits from DuPont provide an amazing degree of protection from the elements of your work site. Here are some tips to make them work even better for you. Whether you're using your Tyvek suits for basic clean-up trying to keep the dirt and other non-hazardous materials such as oil, paint, and sewage away from your clothes and skin, or you have some really serious particulate matter about such as pesticides and radioactive particles, the goal is to keep it away from you. Tyvek has …

Some of the more dangerous particles to breath into your lungs are mold spores and asbestos particles. If you are working in areas with either of these factors, as a professional or a do-it-yourselfer, be sure your personal protective equipment (PPE) is up to the task you are setting for it. One of our most popular respirators is the Moldex 9000 Series Full Mask Respirator. The 9000 series masks offer full-face protection which is especially important when particles can also affect the mucous me …

For thousands of people affected by Hurricanes, cleaning up and making their homes and businesses habitable again is a big challenge. When the flood waters recede it is often replaced by mold in damp materials like wallboard, insulation, carpeting, wallpaper, and wood paneling. All of that material needs to be removed, and workers need to be protected from airborne mold spores that can get into cuts and scrapes, ears, nose, mouth, and even the mucous membrane of the eye. To remove these hazar …

Clean up from superstorm Sandy is going to take time. One of the ongoing problems the residents who saw flooding will face is getting rid of the mold. As they reclaim their houses and businesses, they are finding flooring, chairs, walls, and other porous materials that have been wet for more than a couple of days are accumulating mold colonies. The longer the mold is allowed to continue to grow, the more dangerous it becomes to people operating in the area, and the more difficult it bec …

A common inquiry from customers concerns protection from mold exposure, particularly when trying to clean up or get rid of mold. Our focus will be on choosing respirator and filters. First, we should probably say that there are a couple of considerations. Some people are simply more sensitive to mold than others and even small exposures will make them ill. Second, not all mold is created equal. Some forms, Stachybotrys chartarum (often referred to as black mold) can have severe health c …

In this post we will look at a customer who was working with bleach and mold. This customer will need a respirator mask and filters to protect against both. We will look at what combinations do that: I am looking for a respirator and respirator cartridges to protect me while I apply a bleach solution to my entire attic to kill mold. What would be the correct combination of mask and filters for that application? This poses an interesting question. In looking at a mask and filter …

When using a 3M 2091 Particulate Filter in the field, it is important to change it frequently enough to ensure that you are still getting the necessary protection. I receive many questions asking about the lifetime of these filters. Here is one of the more recent questions: I know it depends on usage and environment, but are the 2091 particulate filters designed to be used and then stored until needed again or are they meant to be used once and then thrown out? If I use this filter f …