The effectiveness of respiratory protection worn by communities to protect from volcanic ash inhalation. Part II: Total inward leakage tests

Abstract

Inhalation of ash can be of great concern for affected communities, during and after volcanic eruptions. Governmental and humanitarian agencies recommend and distribute a variety of respiratory protection (RP), most commonly surgical masks. However, there is currently no evidence on how effective such masks are in protecting wearers from volcanic ash. In Part I of this study (Mueller et al., 2018), we assessed the filtration efficiency (FE) of 17 materials from different forms of RP against volcanic ash and a surrogate, low-toxicity dust, Aloxite. Based on those results, we now present the findings from a volunteer simulation study to test the effect of facial fit through assessment of Total Inward Leakage (TIL). This research was supported by the Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC) Programme