Standards and marking

Gas half masks marked EN 140 are devices designed to provide the user with protection if used together with gas filters, dust filters and combined filters; they are in compliance with all the requirements of the standard, such as respiratory resistance, adherence loss and carbon dioxide content of the inhaled air.

Dust filters are devices conceived to protect the users against:

• dusts
• fumes
• mists

They fully meet all requirements provided by the standard including breathing resistance, filter penetration, obstruction and mechanical resistance. Dust filters are classified also according to their re-usability during time and have the following markings:

• NR which means not reusable: filters suitable to be used for a single work shift
• R which means reusable: filters suitable to be used for more than one work shift.

Gas filters are devices conceived to grant to the user the protection against:

• gases
• vapours

If air in work environment is contaminated not only by gases and vapours, but also by dusts with concentrations superior to TLV, it is necessary to use combined filters, made of filtering elements both gas and dust resistant, that in this way provide efficient protection also against dusts, fumes and mists. Filters marked EN 14387 fully meet all requirements provided by standard including breathing resistance, ability to protect against gases, filter penetration, obstruction and mechanical resistance.
To each type of contaminant is associated a colour code as follows:

A	ORGANIC GASES AND VAPOURS
B	INORGANIC GASES AND VAPOURS
E	GAS AND ACID VAPOURS
K	AMMONIA AND ITS DERIVATIVES
P	TOXIC, SOLID AND LIQUID AEROSOLS

• Gas filters are identified according to their protection ability against gases. Therefore they are divided into three protection classes defined by numbers 1, 2 and 3. Gas filter has to be immediately replaced when contaminant odour is perceived. The filter will be saturated and it will be no longer able to filter and/or absorb any substance.
• Dust filters are divided in three protective classes defined by acronym P1, P2 and P3. To each protective class corresponds a filtering efficiency value expressed as a percentage %. Filtering efficiency of P3 class includes the efficiency of P1 and P2 classes. Dust filter has to be replaced when you meet breathing difficulty.

In order to safeguard the consumers’ health, the European Union issued the REACH regulation (come into force on 1st June 2007) which forbids the use of certain chemicals. COFRA guarantees the compliance of all its products with the REACH regulation; they do not contain carcinogen substances or mentioned in the European list of forbidden substances and, in order to grant it, all raw materials used during production are subjected to controls.

The dust filtering half masks are devices suitable to protect the user against all the external agents which, if inhalated, can be a risk for health or safety. The respirators in compliance with EN 149 standard have been conceived to grant protection against aerosol both liquid and solid, that are:

• dusts
• fumes
• mists

Optional test provided by the standard EN 149 measuring the performances of clogging resistance of a mask. The conformity to this test (which can be noticed with the “D” marking on the mask) guarantees a good level of breathability even in extreme cases of highly concentrated dust.

LEVEL OF PROTECTION

FILTERING EFFICIENCY OF THE MASK

FFP1

78 %

FFP2

92 %

FFP3

98 %

The dust filtering half masks are classified according to their reusability over time and have the following markings:
NR which means not reusable: masks to be used during only one work shift
R which means reusable: masks to be used during more work shifts.

In order to safeguard the consumers’ health, the European Union issued the REACH regulation (come into force on 1st June 2007) which forbids the use of certain chemicals. COFRA guarantees the compliance of all its products with the REACH regulation; they do not contain carcinogen substances or mentioned in the European list of forbidden substances and, in order to grant it, all raw materials used during production are subjected to controls.