What is the difference between a regular N95 Respirator and a Surgical N95 Respirator?
Surgical respirators are a type of respiratory protection that offers the combined protective properties of both a filtering facepiece respirator and a surgical mask. Surgical N95 respirators are certified by NIOSH as respirators and also cleared by FDA as medical devices which have been designed and tested and shown to be equivalent to surgical masks in certain performance characteristics (resistance to blood penetration, biocompatibility) which are not examined by NIOSH during its certification of N95 respiratorsThose respirators that are surgical N95 respirators are also cleared by the FDA and, therefore, are appropriate for circumstances in which protection from airborne and body fluid contaminant is needed. -Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for an Influenza Pandemic Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), February 2007 OSHA regulation 1910.134 requires fit testing of all respirators prior to use in order to determine if proper fit is attainable. Individual facial fea
