Blog

Being able to breathe without inhaling dangerous particulates and vapors is crucial to respiratory safety. Many workers using respirators for jobs involving construction, often wonder how long their respirator filters last before they should be replaced. The actual answer is “it depends,” but that’s because much of it is relative to the environment in which they are being used. While different filters have different capabilities and limitations, the filter or cartridge cha …

When using a respirator or N95 facemask on the job, you will need to replace your respirator filter or cartridge from time to time to make sure your respirator is working properly. At PK Safety, we get this question quite a bit, “When do I change my respirator filter?” The truth is that there is no one right answer. The lifespan of your filter or cartridge depends on how often you’re using your respirator, the target substance, and the conditions of your work environment. Use these tips …

We make specific recommendations below, but first a little background. Working in the manufacturing or construction industries often means being exposed to what’s known as silica dust, or respirable crystalline silica, which is created by cutting, grinding, drilling, or crushing stone, rock, concrete, brick, mortar, and other construction materials. Silica dust poses a direct and serious threat to the health of anyone working near this dust. A study by Koo et al. (2000) highlighted the significa …

Last week a customer sent us a question asking how long the 3M 2097 Particulate Mold Filters last. The answer is - it depends. Since it's a fairly common question, and "it depends" is such an unsatisfactory answer, we thought we'd explain it here in a bit more detail. The useful life of filters and cartridges is not fixed. In the case of the 3M 2097 P100 (HEPA) filters, we have two elements to consider: the filter and the charcoal layer. The P100 HEPA (which stands for High-Efficiency …

The variety of jobs and tasks our customers set out to do continually amazes me. Here is a query from a recent customer about his task: In an upcoming job I will be melting lead and spraying acrylic and lacquer based paints. What mask and filters do you recommend to protect me from the fumes associated with these tasks? How does sizing on the masks work? For the lead fumes I suggest using a P100 (HEPA) filter such as the 3M 2091 Particulate Filter or the 3M 7093 P100 HEPA filte …