[Evaluation of change schedule of organic vapor respirator cartridges in a petrochemical industry]

In the absence of End of Service Life Indicator [ESLI], a cartridge change schedule should be established for ensuring that cartridges are changed before their end of service life. The aim of this study was determining the efficiency of respirator change schedule and presenting a suitable schedule for changing the cartridges before their end of service life in a petrochemical complex. Required information for change criteria, number and time between changing the cartridges were gathered through the existing records in the industry. Also the highest values of measured environmental conditions were used as a worse case condition for estimation of service life of cartridges. Technical data and specification of used cartridges in the industry were collected through the cartridges manufactures. Manufacturer's service life software was used for estimation of cartridge service life and 10% of threshold limit values were considered for estimation of breakthrough time of cartridges. The results show that there is no effective change schedule for respirator cartridges in the studied industry. Also there was a significant difference between current schedule and developed schedule for changing the respirators in the studied industry. Relying on odor thresholds and other warning properties solely as the basis for changing respirator chemical cartridges is not allowed and a change out schedule should be developed base on workplace conditions and specification of respirator cartridges

[Assessment of organic vapor-respirator cartridge efficiency based on the EN 14387:2004 standard]

Determining the degree of conformity of respirator cartridges with the accepted standards is very important for ensuring their respiratory protection efficiency. The aim of this study was to determine the degree of conformity of organic vapor-respirator cartridges used in different petrochemical companies with the EN 14387:2004 standard. In the first phase of the study, the respirator cartridges used in petrochemical complexes were identified and their specifications obtained from their manufacturers and the relevant technical catalogues. In the second phase, 3 samples of each of the cartridge models were chosen and tested according to the EN 14387:2004 standard. An instrument was especially designed for measuring the breakthrough time of the cartridges. The results showed that the minimum and maximum breakthrough times of cartridges were 29 and 142 minutes, respectively. From all the 10 different cartridge models tested, one had a service life of lower than the minimum standard breakthrough time of 70 minutes. Considering the existence of a non-standard type of cartridge among the samples studied, it is essential to launch a program aiming at ensuring the conformity of cartridge efficiency with the respective standards. Such a program should be developed and implemented by such responsible organizations as the Institute of Standard and Industrial Research of Iran and the Center for Occupational Health and Safety Research and Training of Iran