Testing & Standards to Stop Counterfeit Respirators| Healthier Workplaces, A Healthier World | NIOSH

NIOSH talks about the impact of counterfeit respirators that don’t meet their standards for breathing resistance and filtration levels and how they test and approve respirators in the national lab to protect workers in health care, manufacturing, construction, firefighting and others. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is the federal institute responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness. NIOSH is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). NIOSH is the federal institute specifically dedicated to generating new knowledge in the field of occupational safety and health and to transferring that knowledge into practice for the betterment of workers.
The National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) is a division of NIOSH which operates within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). NPPTL was established in 2001, at the request of Congress, with the mission of preventing disease, injury, and death for the millions of working men and women relying on personal protective technology (PPT). PPT plays an important role in keeping many workers within various industries safe while performing their professional duties. To achieve the Laboratory’s mission, NPPTL conducts scientific research, develops guidance and authoritative recommendations, disseminates information, and responds to requests for workplace health hazard evaluations. The development of NPPTL filled a need for improved personal protective equipment (PPE) and focused research into PPT.