NIOSH Will No Longer Post Model-Specific Donning Instructions for FFRs

Model-specific donning instructions for NIOSH-approved filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) will soon be removed from the website of the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL), the agency announced this week. The change is occurring as NPPTL transitions its website to a new platform to align with other CDC and NIOSH webpages. According to NPPTL’s notice, donning instructions for FFRs currently posted to its website will remain available until the new website is launched, but the agency will not post instructions for new NIOSH-approved FFRs. NPPTL’s new website, which is scheduled to go live early next year, will not provide any make- or model-specific donning instructions for FFRs. NIOSH has previously published generalized instructions for how to wear an FFR (PDF).

“For donning instructions specific to the make and model of FFR you are using, see the donning instructions provided with, or on the packaging of, your respirator,” the agency urges respirator users. “If you do not have access to these instructions, please see the respirator approval holder (manufacturer) or private label entity website or contact the approval holder directly.”

More information, including a list of NIOSH-approved particulate FFRs, can be found on the current NPPTL website.