A letter from the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) dated May 20 notifies respirator users and manufacturers of the most recent interpretation regarding configurations conforming to the Statement of Standard for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Full Facepiece Air Purifying Respirators (APR). The design requirements of the standard are intended to ensure that replacement air-purifying canisters that meet the standard can be used on any similarly approved facepiece in emergency situations. According to the letter, NPPTL has granted Avon Safety Systems, Inc. approval for a “low-profile” CBRN APR respirator configuration that’s been deemed to meet the requirements of the CBRN APR statement of standard. In the low-profile respirator configuration, the air-purifying canister is located much closer to the wearer’s face. The respirator design features a breakaway thread adapter piece supplied on every air-purifying canister produced for supply to users.

“The as-supplied, air-purifying canister fully conforms to the standard and may be utilized for emergency interchange in the exact same manner as any of the other air-purifying canisters approved to date,” the NPPTL notice reads. “Similarly, the as-supplied facepiece is capable of receiving any of the other approved air-purifying canisters. For users who have both the Avon facepiece and Avon canister, the low-profile configuration may be achieved in use by removing the threaded adaptor piece and connecting the air-purifying canister directly to the facepiece without the threaded adaptor piece.”

View the notice on NPPTL’s website.