There are two types of respiratory protective equipment mainly based on the principle of protection:

• Breathing masks or filtering equipment (such as filter, gas filter, combined filter, filtering half mask)
• Breathing apparatus or isolation equipment (such as open circuit and closed circuit independent breathing apparatus, compressed line breathing apparatus)

Respirators are designed to filter or clean some contaminated air before it is inhaled by the inhaler. These respirators are unsuitable in oxygen deficient environments, i.e. when the oxygen concentration drops below 19 percent.

Breathing equipment delivers breathable air to the user from an independent source, such as compressed air tanks or compressed lines. Breathing apparatus is designed for use in an oxygen deficient atmosphere (oxygen concentration is below 19 percent).

The general classification of respiratory protective equipment is as follows:

• Respirators: The contaminants in the working environment air are filtered before being inhaled by the user. For example, half mask with filter, full face mask with filter and electric breathing masks.
• Breathing apparatus: Provides uncontaminated breathing air from independent source. For example, compressed airway respirators or fixed line independent breathing apparatus.

Disposable respirators are often referred to as filtering apparatus for facial parts. It consists largely of filter material. These masks must comply with the EN 149 standard and are classified as FFP1, FFP2 and FFP3 to increase filtering efficiency.

All respiratory protection equipment to enter the European Union countries must meet the requirements laid down in the legal regulation 2016/425 / EU on personal protective equipment. The legal regulation in question introduces a system of control and balance that ensures the security of companies, distributors, importers and test laboratories that produce increasingly global personal protective equipment.

The main respiratory protection equipment tests performed by our organization include:

• Gas filter capacity (EN 14387)
• Particle filter efficiency, sodium chloride (NIOSH STP)
• Particulate filter penetration (EN 13274-7 and ISO 16900-3)
• Medical face masks, bacterial filtration efficiency (EN 14683)
• Gas filter service life (NIOSH STP)
• Breathing resistance, static and dynamic flows
• Carbon dioxide dead space using transfer standard
• Gas filter capacity (ISO 16900-4)