Approvals: First Level Second Level Third Level Fourth Level

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory

P.O. Box 18070

Pittsburgh, PA 15236

Procedure No. TEB-CCER-STP-0600 Revision: 0.0 Date: 25 March 2014

DETERMINATION OF GASOLINE PERMEATION TEST ON BREATHING BAGS, 

CLOSED-CIRCUIT ESCAPE RESPIRATOR (CCER)

1. PURPOSE

This procedure establishes the test for ensuring that the level of protection provided by the 

breathing bag requirements submitted for Approval, Extension of Approval, or examined during 

Certified Product Audits, meet the minimum certification standards set forth in Section 84.302(e) 

of Subpart O−Closed Circuit Escape Respirators updated requirements to 42 CFR, Part 84, 

Volume 60, Number 110, June 8, 1995 as published in Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 46 / 

Thursday, March 8, 2012 / Rules and Regulations pp. 14168-14197.

2. GENERAL

This STP describes the Determination of Gasoline Permeation Test on Breathing Bags, ClosedCircuit Escape Respirator test in sufficient detail that a person knowledgeable in the appropriate 

technical field can select equipment with the necessary resolution, conduct the test, and determine 

whether or not the product passes the test.

3. EQUIPMENT/INSTRUMENTS/MATERIALS

3.1 The list of necessary test equipment and materials follows:

3.1.1. Mechanical Breather with 622 Kg-m/min. cam as per U.S. BOM Drawings C1748 (3/17/69) Breathing Machine and B-1198 (3/6/69) Breathing Cam or 

equivalent.

3.1.2. Electric Timer, calibrated to hundredths of a minute (Precision Scientific Co.) or 

equivalent.
Procedure No. TEB-CCER-STP-0600 Revision: 0.0 Date: 25 March 2014 Page 2 of 9

3.1.3. Matheson Toxic Gas Detector - Model 8014KA or equivalent.

3.1.4. Large container or tub, (14" deep x 22" W x 22" L) approximately 20 to 30 

gallon capacity or equivalent.

3.1.5. A plastic cover for top and tray for the tub to set in.

3.1.6. (As alternative to large air tight chamber) Glove bag, 37” x 37” x 25” Glas-Col 

catalog number 108D X-37-37HG or equivalent

3.1.7. Quick closing clamps required for equipment sleeve

3.1.8. Gasoline (premium unleaded or equivalent).

3.1.9. General Electric 1/10 h. pump or equivalent

4. TESTING REQUIREMENTS AND CONDITIONS

4.1. Prior to beginning any testing, all measuring equipment and instruments to be used must 

have been calibrated using a method traceable to the National Institute of Standards and 

Technology (NIST) in accordance with the manufacturer's calibration procedure and 

schedule.

4.2. Any laboratory using this procedure to supply certification test data to NPPTL will be 

subject to the provisions of the NPPTL Supplier Qualification Program (SQP). This 

program is based on the tenets of ISO/IEC 17025, the NIOSH Manual of Analytical 

Methods and other NIOSH guidelines. An initial complete quality system audit and 

follow on audits are requirements of the Program. Additional details of the Program and 

its requirements can be obtained directly from NPPTL.

4.3. The test duration will be the longest duration obtained for any unit that underwent 

capacity testing according to Subpart O, Section 84.304, of Subpart O−Closed Circuit 
Procedure No. TEB-CCER-STP-0600 Revision: 0.0 Date: 25 March 2014 Page 3 of 9

Escape Respirators updated requirements to 42 CFR, Part 84, Volume 60, Number 110, 

June 8, 1995 as published in Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 46 / Thursday, March 8, 

2012 / Rules and Regulations pp. 14168-14197. Refer to Standard Test Procedure for 

Capacity Determination of Closed- Circuit Escape Respirators (CCER).

4.4. Normal laboratory safety practices must be observed. These include safety precautions 

given in the current NIOSH-Pittsburgh Health and Safety Manual, Job Hazard Analysis 

(JHA), work instruction documents and test equipment manufacturer recommended 

practices.

4.5. Mandatory Safety Requirements. (The following practices are to be fully complied with 

during this testing):

4.5.1. A fire extinguisher and telephone will be present and available during testing. 

Personnel present will know the door combination and the guard’s telephone 

number.

4.5.2. All wrist watches, rings, pens, etc. and particularly any aluminum objects are not 

to be taken into the chamber at any time. If rings can’t be removed then gloves 

are required to be worn.

4.5.3. The test tub holding the gasoline must have a secondary containment in order to 

guard against accidental discharge. (When using a glove bag instead of the 

chamber, the secondary containment will be outside the glove bag.)

5. PROCEDURE

When using glove bag, special note:

Set up breathing machine with a 622 Kg-m/min. cam and set for 24 respirations per minute giving 

a 40 L/minute volume. The breathing machine is to be stationed adjacent to the area where the 

glove bag containing the tub is located.

Place the tub inside the glove bag.

5.1. Suspend the breathing bag 6 to 8 inches above the bottom of the tub. (Use ring stands, 

clamps, etc.).

5.2. Make all necessary connections between the breathing machine and breathing bag thru 

glove bag port(s).

5.3. Connect a length of Tygon tubing to a port of the breathing bag and extend outside 

chamber connecting to a "T" containing a pump in line and pinch-off on other side of 

"T". This serves as the sampling line.

5.4. Check all connections for tightness and secure with hose clamps, wire, tape, etc. Make 

final tightness test by injecting air thru sampling line until there is 6 to 8 inches of 

positive pressure and let stand for one-half hour. If pressure holds, proceed.
Procedure No. TEB-CCER-STP-0600 Revision: 0.0 Date: 25 March 2014 Page 4 of 9

5.5. Fill bag to desired test capacity with fresh air (approximately 4 to 5 liters) with the 

breathing cam positioned to start on the inhalation cycle.

5.6. Place closed airtight container filled with 100 milliliters gasoline inside tub and close 

glove bag. Check closure for tightness.

5.7. Start breathing machine and take an initial sample to use as a blank.

5.8. Through gloves in bag open container and pour gasoline into bottom of tub. Take care 

not to allow any liquid gasoline to contact the breathing bag while pouring gasoline into 

the tub.

5.9. Take periodic samples at intervals listed on test/data sheet using gasoline detector tubes. 

Compare stain in detector tube to scale inscribed on surface of stain tube. Record results 

on test data sheet. If bag begins to totally collapse when breathing machine inhales then 

use pump to add fresh air. Care must be taken not to add too much.

5.10. At the conclusion of the test, take a sample over the gasoline (through the glove bag port) 

to check detector tube. Shut off breathing machine, put the test gasoline into an approved 

gasoline safety can, and store in the flammable cabinet.

6. PASS\FAIL CRITERIA

6.1. Breathing bag test.

6.1.1. The air within the bag(s) shall not contain more than 100 parts per million of 

gasoline vapor throughout the duration of the test.

7. RECORDS\TEST SHEETS

7.1. Data shall be recorded and stored in a secure and easily retrievable format.

7.2. All recordings and photographs of the test shall be maintained as part of the permanent 

record.

8. ATTACHMENTS

8.1. Sample Data Sheet

8.2. Test Setup Photographs
Procedure No. TEB-CCER-STP-0600 Revision: 0.0 Date: 25 March 2014 Page 5 of 9

8.1. Sample Data Sheet

GASOLINE PERMEATION - BREATHING BAG TEST, CLOSED-CIRCUIT,

SELF-CONTAINED BREATHING APPARATUS

Project No : Date: __________

Company : ___________________________________________

Respirator Type: ___________________________________________

Reference: Subpart O, Section 84.302(c), of Subpart O−Closed Circuit Escape Respirators updated 

requirements to 42 CFR, Part 84, Volume 60, Number 110, June 8, 1995 as published in 

Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 46 / Thursday, March 8, 2012 / Rules and Regulations pp. 

14168-14197.

Requirement: The test duration will be the longest duration obtained for any unit that underwent 

capacity testing. Refer to Standard Test Procedure for Capacity Determination of 

Closed- Circuit Escape Respirators (CCER).

The air within the bag(s) shall not contain more than 100 parts per million of gasoline 

vapor during of the test.

Results:

PENETRATION

Time (minutes) Stain Remarks

0

5

15

30

45

60

90

120

150

180

210

240
Procedure No. TEB-CCER-STP-0600 Revision: 0.0 Date: 25 March 2014 Page 6 of 9

270

300

330

360

390

420

450

480

Comments:

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Test Engineer: Pass: Fail: _______
Procedure No. TEB-CCER-STP-0600 Revision: 0.0 Date: 25 March 2014 Page 7 of 9
Procedure No. TEB-CCER-STP-0600 Revision: 0.0 Date: 25 March 2014 Page 8 of 9
Procedure No. TEB-CCER-STP-0600 Revision: 0.0 Date: 25 March 2014 Page 9 of 9

Revision History

Revision Date Reason for Revision

1.0 15 November 2011 Revisions applied to PSDB-STP-0134 from Federal Register/Vol. 73, 

No. 238/Wed. December 10, 2008/ proposed rules 75040

2.0 20 February 2012 Added glove bag option.

3.0 23 March 2012 Administrative changes made to include information from the release of 

the proposed rule.

Former document number - STP-00001-PSDB-0002

0.0 25 March 2014 New document number to reflect numbering in the approval library, 

normalization of format. Grammatical edits have been incorporated for 

clarification, but there are no changes to procedure from historical 

document.