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Let the Cinco de Mayo festivities begin early! Find your sombreros, grab some amigos, and shop our top 5 must-have safety products, perfectly paired for your easy everyday protection.Pair 1: Gas Detector + Docking Station The BW Clip4 Four Gas Detector provides portable, easy-to-use multi?gas detection that’s always on. It detects Oxygen (O2), Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), Carbon monoxide (CO), Lower Explosive Levels (LEL) of a variety of combustible gases. It offers a full 2?year warranty …

Respirator filters are rated according to how much particulate matter they can reliably block. A P100 rating is the highest for personal respiratory protection. As long as your mask fits properly a P100 filter will block 99.9% of particles .3 microns or larger. (If you're interested in the nitty-gritty the CDC has a comprehensive and fairly unreadable guide to particulate respirators.) In defense of the CDC, there are a huge range of hazards, and not everyone can wax poetic about lun …

Hooray hooray it’s respirator day! There are so many to thank, air borne pathogens, asbestos and lead, don’t forget those sneaky little unseen particulates, and especially the CDC for all their hard work in making this happen. Without them, well, the N95 face mask would be just another underutilized tool in the fight to keep people safe and healthy. I’m sure that if Superman ever needed a mask (not for breathing or even a disguise, mind you. Those glasses and hairstyle are clearly a genius …

We get two questions about respirators more often than all other questions combined. People want to know what size mask to order, and they want to know how they can be sure the mask is fitting properly. Because these are such common questions, you'd think we'd have a quick and easy answer for each of them. But each question has some variables, and it's not so easy. Here's what you need to know to make sure your respirator mask fits correctly. For this discussion we will limit the sco …

Number 4 on OSHA's Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards is Respiratory Protection. OSHA aims to control the occupational diseases and medical ailments caused by breathing air containing harmful "dusts, fogs, fumes, mists, gases, smokes, sprays, or vapors." When permanent engineering solutions are not available to clear the air workers breath, ventilation systems or specific respirator masks need to be employed. Appropriate respirators must be provided to employees by the employe …

We have lots of folks who call us asking which is the correct 3M respirator cartridge for their job. It's not always easy to know. 3M alone has more than 20 cartridges and filters for different types of work. We'd like to start breaking down the different uses each of these products, and we will start with some of the most popular. All of the cartridges we'll discuss are filled with activated charcoal. Each has slightly different characteristics, so let's discuss which solution is best …

A common inquiry from customers concerns protection from mold exposure, particularly when trying to clean up or get rid of mold. Our focus will be on choosing respirator and filters. First, we should probably say that there are a couple of considerations. Some people are simply more sensitive to mold than others and even small exposures will make them ill. Second, not all mold is created equal. Some forms, Stachybotrys chartarum (often referred to as black mold) can have severe health c …

In this post we will look at a customer who was working with bleach and mold. This customer will need a respirator mask and filters to protect against both. We will look at what combinations do that: I am looking for a respirator and respirator cartridges to protect me while I apply a bleach solution to my entire attic to kill mold. What would be the correct combination of mask and filters for that application? This poses an interesting question. In looking at a mask and filter …

When working with dangerous chemicals, it is extremely important to have the right safety equipment. Many chemical products are available that have hidden problems. Here is a question I recently got from a customer working with dangerous vapors: What Paint Respirator should I use when spraying Urethane Paint? The information sheet I received about it says to use a NIOSH-approved activated Charcoal cartridge respirator. I would like to use a half mask if possible. You ask a …

We recently had a customer who worked with a wide variety of materials and needed a mask and filters to cover everything. Let’s take a look: I am working around many materials that I would like protection from. I am cutting hardened epoxy, fiberglass, wood, and plastic. I also do welding from time to time. I am also exposed to epoxies in the liquid state. Which mask and replaceable filters should I be using to protect me from these exposures? How long do the filters last? What size mask …