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Author
Utech, H. P.
Title
Overcoming Facepiece Leakage. Part 3. On Firefighters and Their Breathing Apparatus.
Coporate
National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC
Journal
Fire Independent, Vol. 1, No. 3, 1-2,21, April/May 1975
Keywords
fire fighters | leakage | face masks | face protection | self contained breathing apparatus
Abstract
The first article in this series described the nature and concentraion of the toxic gases firefighters encounter. The second article used this data to establish the maximum levels of facepiece leakage permissible to provide the firefighter sufficient protection from these gases. The second article went on to show that the four major brands of demand-type self-contained breathing apparatus currently used by fire departments fail to provide this minimum level of protection for a large fraction of the men wearing them. This article explores what can and should be done to correct this serious problem.