Why would it be good to have FFP3 respirators in everyone's home supply?
Right now, we might be horrified by the thought of aerosol particles from nuclear fallout. There are other harmful particles coming from far away, and you should protect yourself from all of them.
The size of the aerosol particles affects how far they travel in the air. The size also affects how deep the particles end up in the respiratory system. In addition, the size determines how easy or difficult it is to filter the aerosol out of the air.
In general, we could say that the smaller the particle, the further and longer it flies in the air, whether we are looking at the atmosphere, our lungs or the particle filter.
Why are particles from nuclear fallout or forest fires, for example, a concern? They are exactly the size category that travels in the atmosphere for days, even weeks, gets deep into the respiratory system and requires a proper filter to filter them.
A well-fitting FFP3 respirator effectively filters out nuclear fallout aerosols
Previously, after the Chernobyl accident and most recently the Fukushima accident, scientists found out what size particles were transported to different parts of the globe and in which size classes radioactive isotopes were observed. The findings were very similar in both.
One scientific publication reports on Fukushima fallout studies from France, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, and Greece. According to the study, most of the particles were in the size range 0.1-1 μm and the median size class Cesium (137) was 0.25 - 0.71 μm, Cesium (134) was 0.17 - 0.69 μm and Iodine (131) was 0.3 - 0.53 μm.
A well-fitting FFP3 respirator filters over 97% of all these size categories. Respirators are classified for particles of 0.6 μm on average, and for them the FFP3 class filtration efficiency is 99%.
Many have become familiar with respirators during the corona pandemic. Less noticed is the fact that with the FFP3 Respirator you can protect yourself comprehensively from airborne particles, not only from viruses.
FFP3 respirators are easy to take with you and use when needed. Lifa Air produces two sizes S/M and L/XL. The protector's model is designed to be as comfortable as possible to use, as there is plenty of breathing space in this model.
In the online store you can see the models and place an order conveniently.
Publications:
Size Distributions of Airborne Radionuclides from the Fukushima Nuclear Accident at Several Places in Europe. Masson et al. Environmental Science & Technology 2013, DOI: 10.1021/es401973c
Particle size distribution of radioactive aerosols after the Fukushima and the Chernobyl accidents. Mala et al. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 2013: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2013.07.016