Application of Olfactometry to Assess the Anti-Odor Properties of Filtering Facepiece Respirators Containing Activated Carbon Nonwovens

Filtering facepiece respirators (FFR) with anti-odor properties are used to reduce odor nuisance occurring both in everyday life and at workplaces. Unfortunately, there are no standardized methods to measure the efficiency of odor reduction of such personal protective devices. This paper aims to determine whether olfactometric-based methods, commonly used in environmental studies, can be employed for this purpose. The proposed procedure is based on the detection of n-butanol by study participants, and it consists of three subsequent stages: (i) defining the individual levels of odor sensitivity of each study participant; (ii) determining THE odor detection level while using FFRs with varying anti-odor properties; and (iii) completing a questionnaire concerning the subjective perceptions of study participants. As a measure of odor reduction efficiency, a coefficient W, defined as a quotient of the degree of odor reduction by the FFR, and the individual odor sensitivity of the subject, was proposed. The experimental results showed the ability of our measure to differentiate the effectiveness of odor reduction of tested FFRs. This indicates that it can be potentially employed as the assessment tool to confirm the effectiveness of such respiratory protective devices as a control measure mitigating the adverse effects of malodors on workers’ health, cognition, and behavior.