The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a research agency of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has a set of requirements to approve filtering facepiece respirators.
A filtering facepiece respirator is any device worn to help protect your lungs from airborne particles, including some types of dusts, sprays, and wildfire smoke. It’s important to follow all manufacturer instructions on the use, maintenance, cleaning, and warnings about the respirators limitations as some respirators aren’t designed to protect against certain contaminants. For example, a respirator designed to filter dust particles will not protect you against gases, vapors, or very small solid particles of fumes or smoke.
A NIOSH-approved filtering facepiece respirator is required to have the following markings:
For more information on NIOSH-Approved particulate filtering facepiece respirators, visit the The National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) website.