Reusability study with organic vapor air-purifying respirator cartridges

The question often arises about the reusability of organic vapor adsorption beds, such as air- purifying respirator cartridges, after periods of storage without use (airflow). The extremes of practice are: (1) use once and discard or (2) reuse multiple times assuming the protection is still afforded. The goal is to develop data and a model to provide guidance to decide when reuse is acceptable. They have studied the loss of protection of a commercial organic vapor cartridge after storage for varying periods of time. Three vapors (ethyl acetate, methylene chloride, and hexane) were individually loaded onto test cartridges using a breathing pump. Extents of loading, times of loading, and vapor concentrations were varied. After selected periods of storage the cartridges were again challenged with the same vapor concentration. The increases in concentration of a vapor in the effluent air (simulated breaths) from a cartridge immediately upon reuse depended on the storage period, the extent of loading during initial use, the volatility of the vapor, and the water vapor adsorbed, but not much on the vapor concentration