CleanSpace Respirators – a Breath of Fresh Air for Stonemasons

Most people would have heard about the dangers of respirable crystalline silica exposure and its potential to cause silicosis, a debilitating lung condition that can lead to death.

Respirable crystalline silica also causes lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and kidney disease. Silica dust is harmful when inhaled into your lungs. As it is 100 times smaller than a grain of sand, you can be breathing it in without knowing.

Silica is one of the most abundant minerals found in the earth’s crust and is used in many products across a variety of industries and workplaces. Crystalline silica is most dangerous to health when dust is generated, becomes airborne and is then inhaled by a worker.

While there are many industrial activities where people are exposed to respirable crystalline silica, the most notable are stonemasonry, excavation, construction, mining and abrasive blasting.

When looking to protect yourself or your staff from any airborne contaminants, Powered Air Purifying Respirators (PAPRs) offer superior protection over disposable masks. However, it can be difficult to ensure that workers wear their respiratory protection for an entire shift, as traditional PAPRs can be heavy. With belts holding battery packs and hoses connected to the mask, they create moisture on the face, and they often fog eye protection.

CleanSpace Respirators are a revolution in the area of respiratory protection, because while they provide all the protection of a PAPR, they a free from belts, battery packs and hoses.

Even when used in hot and humid conditions, CleanSpace Respirators provide cool, clean air to the user and eliminate fogging and moisture. CleanSpace respirators are light, easy to put on, reliably safe and comfortable. They are operated using a one-button smart system. These features mean workers are more likely to wear them for a full shift.

Compared to disposable masks, CleanSpace Respirators offer more protection and are more economical, as the cost of replacing disposables stacks up. Disposable masks are also well-known for causing fogging and discomfort, leading to low compliance.

The NIOSH approved CleanSpace Respirators have four models depending on the requirements of the industry. CleanSpace EX is intrinsically safe, so that it can be worn in potentially explosive environments. CleanSpace Ultra is IP rated 66, making it water tolerant and CleanSpace 2 is the standard model suitable for those that work in environments where water protection or intrinsic safety are not required. The newly launched CleanSpace HALO is designed specifically for the healthcare, pharmaceutical and laboratory sectors.

This month, CleanSpace will launch the new nuisance filter in the US, which features a deep carbon bed incorporated with a dust HEPA filter. It can withstand long periods of use and is suitable for multi-gas (organic vapor (OV), acid gas (AG) and ammonia.

CleanSpace Technology assists in product training, fit testing and instructions on maintenance and care with attentive customer support and advice. WMHS