PAPR-Related Notices Issued by 3M Scott Fire & Safety, Honeywell
A new user safety notice from 3M Scott Fire & Safety and a new market action notice from Honeywell were recently added to the respirator user notices page of the NIOSH National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) website, which lists notices from manufacturers regarding conditions or risks that may exist with NIOSH-certified products. Both notices have to do with powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) products.
The 3M Scott Fire & Safety user safety notice affects 3M Scott C420 PAPR blowers manufactured between August 2020 and September 2021. According to the notice, the manufacturer of these units has “identified a population of production with the potential for internal impeller disengagement from the blower motor,” which may result in loss of powered air. The manufacturer recommends quarantining affected units until they are repaired through a mitigation and repair plan established by 3M. Additional details are available in the user safety notice (PDF).
The market action notice published by Honeywell Safety Products has to do with the company’s PAPR cartridges with SKUs PA7DEHE and PA70VAGHE. Honeywell previously issued a mandatory stop-use notice for these products due to a quality issue related to these cartridges that “could cause possible exposure to carbon and other substances, creating a potential safety issue for the user.” The company’s new notification states that it is replacing all unopened, unused cartridges produced before November 2022 that are affected by this issue. Information regarding the replacement process can be found in the market action notice (PDF).
These and other recent notices can also be found on the NPPTL website.