Evaluation of a Wearable Respiratory Protection Assessment System

Annual fit testing confirms a respirator provides adequate protection to a worker at the time of testing, but does not guarantee stable fit during point of use in the workplace. Current instruments, limited by their size, weight, rudimentary data logging, and reliance on external power, cannot assess fit during actual use. This study introduces the Wearable Respiratory Protection Assessment System (WRPAS) by TSI, Incorporated, designed to provide real-time, in-situ respirator fit measurements. Our objectives were to evaluate the WRPAS's ability to detect respirator leakage, identify which activities most accurately predict overall simulated workplace protection factor (SWPF) fit, and examine how the respirator fit changes over time. The SWPF study was conducted with 19 participants performing 15 tasks of varying intensities, repeated twice. Participants were divided into groups with and without intentional leaks. The leaks were created using a Y-valve that allowed 25% of ambient air particles into the mask. Using Welch’s t-test, significant differences in both activity-specific and overall SWPFs were observed between groups (p < 0.05). Spearman’s Rank Correlation identified five of the fifteen activities as strong predictors of fit: bending over, p = 0.01; facial expressions, p = 0.02; loading and unloading a cart, p = 0.04; army crawl, p = 0.01; and assessing a manikin, p = 0.04. The current study confirms the WRPAS's ability to assess respirator fit changes in real time and under physical exertion, enabling its use in future workplace protection factor assessments.