Why do you need to determine the concentration range of a gas detector?
Are you unknowingly exposed to harmful gases? Even when using personal protective equipment? Safety professionals consider many factors when recommending respiratory protection for workers in environments where toxic gas hazards may exist.
But an overlooked factor is the measurement range of the toxic and hazardous gas detector used. Why is it so important? So why does a gas detector need to be ranged?
NIOSH recommends different levels of personal protective equipment (PPE) based on potential exposure (parts per million), let's use ammonia (NH3) as an example, although the same principles apply to all toxic gas hazards.
For example, in the Midwest of the United States, food production is a big business. In addition to food production, there are also refrigeration facilities that use NH3 as a refrigerant. In Wisconsin and Michigan alone, companies use about 150 million pounds of ammonia for refrigeration every year, which means With thousands of workers potentially exposed to ammonia, with this in mind, workers use gas detectors and NIOSH guidance to determine how to properly protect themselves.
If the exposure potential is as high as 250 ppm NH3, NIOSH recommends the use of a half-mask respirator equipped with a cartridge that protects against NH3 or any supplied air respirator.
If the exposure potential is as high as 300 ppm NH3, NIOSH recommends the use of an air respirator that provides constant flow or any powered purifying respirator with a cartridge that protects against NH3, a full-facepiece respirator, or a full-facepiece mask.
If the exposure potential is greater than 300 ppm, NIOSH recommends the use of a safe closed respirator (SCBA) or a full-face supplied-air respirator. To accurately determine exposure, your gas detector must be able to detect levels according to NIOSH's PPE guidelines.
In this example, your gas detector must be able to detect NH3 in concentrations greater than 300 ppm, but many gas detectors can only measure 0-100 ppm NH3, which is a problem if there is no device that can measure greater than 300 ppm ( or NIOSH recommendations for specific toxic gases), how do your workers know if their PPE provides adequate protection.
To avoid this problem, it is important to check the measuring range of your gas detector, especially if your environment may contain ammonia (NH3), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), sulfur dioxide (SO2) or carbon monoxide (CO).
In this case, a gas detector with a measurement range greater than 300ppm can help your workers determine whether they need to switch to SCBA when working in this environment. If your gas detector cannot detect NH3 up to 300ppm, workers should Wear SCBA at all times to ensure its levels exceed the permissible exposure limit of 50ppm NH3.
