Laboratory performance evaluation of N95 filtering facepiece respirators, 1996

In 1995, CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) introduced a new classification scheme for particulate air-purifying respirators. Most health-care workers use type N95 half-mask filtering facepiece respirators (i.e., N95 respirators) to prevent occupational transmission of tuberculosis. As a result, NIOSH received inquiries about how well N95 respirators fit, whether they need to be fit tested, and whether they can be quantitatively fit tested. In response to these inquiries, NIOSH evaluated the performance of 21 N95 respirator models on a 25-person panel. This report summarizes the results of this evaluation, which indicate that fit testing is needed to ensure at least the expected level of protection (i.e., the concentration of airborne contaminants inside the respirator is < or =10% of ambient levels).