The efficiency of respiratory filters in a coke oven atmosphere

Several types of commercially available respiratory filter/sorbent combinations were tested in a coke oven environment. The percent penetration of benzene soluble particulate and benzo(a)pyrene through these filters was determined and was generally found to be less than ten percent. Degradation of filtering efficiency was noted with some types of filters. The use of a sorbent cartridge in conjunction with a covering filter did not significantly change penetration of the contaminants which were measured.