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4 Things You Need to Know About Respirators

6 min read

Be prepared with these safety tips from the experts at 3M

Respirators are important. You know that well as a painter. After all, a properly chosen respirator can help keep you breathing easily even when you’re surrounded by paint chemicals and airborne particles. It’s not just you, either; more and more people have learned about the value of respirators since the pandemic.

“Since COVID-19, many more people know what N95s are,” says Jason Lunn, Application Engineer at 3M. “Plus, many people now understand the difference between a mask and a respirator—that it comes down to the fact that NIOSH-approved respirators are designed to form a tight seal to the face, while masks are not and can have gaps around the edges.”

But there’s still plenty of things many people—even veteran painting contractors—don’t know about respirator safety. Lunn believes it’s because most people were never taught it.

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