EPA Perspectives on Respiratory Protection for the Public

Respiratory protection is now a critical issue due to the COVID pandemic, wildfire smoke exposures, and high air pollution episodes around the world. A National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s committee will develop a consensus report addressing the need for guidance on respiratory protection for the general public and frontline workers. This presentation covers why this topic is important to EPA and what EPA is hoping will come out of the report, highlighting inhalation hazards of interest and EPA’s research addressing the topic.

Impact/Purpose

Meeting objectives include to hear from EPA on its interest in the study as a new sponsor, to clarify remaining questions about the scope for the committee task, to learn about the needs, current practices, and barriers to use of respiratory protection by the general public and workers without RPPs, to understand current federal agency responsibilities and authorities for oversight and guidance related to use of respiratory protection by the public, to explore with manufacturers the range of technologies available, gaps/challenges to commercializing devices for public use, and the opportunities to meet needs through innovation.

Citation

Cascio, W. EPA Perspectives on Respiratory Protection for the Public. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM), N/A, N/A, January 25, 2021.

• CASCIO_NASEM_R2_508.PDF (PDF)  (NA  pp, 1.7 MB, about PDF)