Safety of workers exposed to harmful airborne bioaerosols – legal status and innovations

Abstract

Filtering respiratory protective equipment is commonly used for protection against bioaerosols in industrial workplaces. However, the EU legislation does not specify the requirements for its antimicrobial properties. The result is that in the market there is no equipment available that would ensure complete safety of workers exposed to inhalation of harmful bioaerosols. This is particularly important in the case of equipment intended for multiple and long-term use. The aim of this study was to develop an innovative filtering half mask for the protection of respiratory tract that would have confirmed antimicrobial properties. The half mask was tested for compliance with EN 149:2001+A1:2009, and the survival rate of microorganisms in nonwovens was determined (E. coli bacteria and A. niger moulds). The reduction in the number of E. coli bacteria was 98.69% and the reduction in the number of A. niger moulds was 67.68% after 32 h of storage under conditions simulating the conditions of use of the equipment. It was found that the biocidal activity of the half mask is sufficient to ensure a significant reduction in the number of microorganisms during its long-term use in the workplace. This in turn means that continuous disinfection of respiratory protective equipment would be maintained even without employees’ intervention, which is not possible in case of standard respiratory protective equipment.