Latest Article: Adoption of Exposure Assessment Tools to Assist in Providing Respiratory Protection Recommendations

Selecting a proper respirator requires determining the ratio of an employee’s maximum use concentration (MUC) divided by the occupational exposure limit of a chemical. Current industrial hygiene practice often is to obtain a percentile estimate (e.g. 95th) of the measured exposure distribution to apply as the MUC. However, practitioners who are not yet familiar with statistical or mathematical approaches may choose the highest exposure data point as the MUC, a method that is still considered appropriate by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Read more about Senior JPB Fellow Diana Ceballos.