European respirator rules

The European respirator rules are rules that European governments use to check respirators. The FFP rules include FFP1, FFP2, and FFP3. For respirators with changeable filters, like elastomeric respirators, the rules go from P1, to P2, and then P3. The standard FFP rules are under is called EN 149. The elastomeric rules are under EN 143.Respiratory Protective Equipment hsa.ie EN 14387 has the chemical cartridge rules. To keep things simple, chemical cartridge rules will not be talked about here.

 Ratings chart 
FFP respirator type can be found by looking at the head band. The head band looks like string. As the FFP number goes up, the amount of dust passed from the filter, to the mouth and nose goes down. Also, the amount of air that goes by the filter goes down. The filter here is the FFP respirator.

+FFP rules Rule with
number Percentage of dust not passed to the mouth and nose
(at 95 liters per minute air flow) Percentage of air that goes
by the FFP respirator, by rule Head band color FFP1 80% or more Less than 22% Yellow FFP2 94% or more Less than 8% Blue FFP3 99% or more Less than 2% Red

FFP2 can stop viruses and tuberculosis. FFP3 can also stop asbestos and ceramic.

 Pictures 
These are not elastomeric respirators. Elastomeric respirators use rules P1, P2, and P3. Also, elastomeric respirators do not change head band color.

References

Related pages
NIOSH ratings
N95

Category:Protective clothing
Category:Headgear