Wow, time flies. Has it really been over a year since a train in Ohio derailed and spilled a bunch of Vinyl Chloride everywhere?
Well, hopefully, it won’t ever happen to you, but if a train happens to derail in your area, remember this:
DO NOT RELY ON CHEMICAL CARTRIDGE COLOR-CODING.
All the cartridge color information online is wrong or outdated. And the US government’s 42 CFR 84-approved standard, ANSI™ K13.1-1973, provides a generic color for combinations of chemicals not listed in the (paywalled!) table.
This leaves, unfortunately, the tedious read of your respirator’s cartridge packaging to determine what volatile chemicals it blocks.
It’ll go something like: “AG/AM/OV/CO,” or maybe it’ll just tell you what the chemicals are, which, in this case, is “Acid gas/Ammonia/Organic Vapors/Carbon Monoxide.”
-
You’ll also want to check the NIOSH™ pocket guide for more respirator use instructions. Be aware: no matter what it says, you should not use a cartridge that doesn’t have the corresponding chemical listed on its packaging and documentation.
-
Don’t use cartridges if the use-indicator is darkened (check your respirator’s documentation for details).
-
And of course, always check the manufacturers website, to get chemical cartridges from official vendors.
-
The NIOSH TC# should start with TC-23C (chemical cartridge) or TC-14G (gas mask).
-
“Canisters” and “cartridges” can have different color codes under K13.1-1973. And sometimes, like with “Ammonia” and “Carbon Monoxide,” they have the same color code. That’s not confusing at all.
More fun facts:
-
K13.1-1973 got revised in 2001. It’s called ANSI Z88.7-2001, mostly to address 42 CFR 84 updates in 1995. It’s the new K13.1-1973, and that one’s official.
-
Chemical cartridges are approved by NIOSH™, the same government entity that approves N95™s. Unlike the N95™ though, chemical cartridges are not trademark-able. So you’ll have to be careful where you get your cartridges form.
-
Did you know that ANSI K13.1-1973 has an alternate color for P100™ filters? They’re normally magenta in color under 42 CFR 84, but the ANSI standard allows for purple P100™ filters.
And now you know why the 3M™ 7093 P100™ filter is purple.
- There are max use concentrations for chemical cartridges. 42 CFR 84 says you shouldn’t use an ammonia cartridge if the concentration is above 300 ppm. In that case, officially, you would have to wear a firefighter’s SCBA.
Yes, you can fit test SCBAs with a CPC/PortaCount too. Filters are added to the mask and it’s tested in negative pressure mode…
(Speaking of firefighters, did you know a lot of US law relies on NFPA™ guidelines which are also paywalled? Seems like a tradition, I guess)
- 42 CFR 84 states that, at the worst possible concentration, chemical cartridges can at worst filter 90% of a given chemical in the air. There’s no easy way of testing this, so you’ll have to take NIOSH™'s word on it.
That’s a worse show of performance than most N95™s do with particulates!
All this makes our prepper who only hoards gas masks for the apocalypse, but not for our entrenched, and evolving, SARS biohazard seem even more insane.
Even more insane if they insist that N95™s are trash…
but their hundred-dollar-plus-gas-mask-with-canisters-I-have-no-way-of-testing-so-I-have-to-trust-the-government-department-NIOSH™-who-also-certifies-N95™s?-in-case-the-government-fails
…is a perfectly reasonable form of protection. Despite the fit all being tested on the same OSHA-cleared equipment, like the PortaCount.
One more useless fact!
- The Federal Register, you know, the journal that holds all the CFRs for the president and stuff (the executive branch, if you recall civics class), was created when FDR was president.