Reference Source

40 records

What assigned protection factor does this respirator have?

40 records covering 6 respirator types, one fact each. Every value is transcribed from the source that states it and carries the sentence it was taken from: 2 sources across 2 sites, last checked 2026-08-10, due for re-check by 2028-08-09. Every record is listed below, each linking the page its value came from.

Records40
Sources2
Verified
Review by
LicenceUS federal and California regulatory text; facts not copyrightable, sections quoted with citation.

About this data

Assigned protection factors (APFs) for each respirator class under federal OSHA (29 CFR 1910.134 Table 1) and Cal/OSHA (8 CCR 5144), and — the derived layer — the maximum use concentration (MUC) each respirator class supports for a given substance, computed as APF × the applicable exposure limit. The regulation itself states the formula ('The MUC can be determined mathematically by multiplying the assigned protection factor... by the required OSHA permissible exposure limit'), but nobody publishes the computed per-substance table, and OSHA and Cal/OSHA limits differ up to 10× for 66 substances — so the same respirator is adequate federally and inadequate in California for the same job. Answers 'what APF does a half mask have', 'what respirator do I need for styrene at 300 ppm', and 'is my respirator sufficient under Cal/OSHA'. Pairs with the existing workplace-exposure-limits asset (1,184 records, two authorities) — the MUC pages are that asset multiplied through this one.

The data

Respirator typeFacepieceOperating modeAssigned protection factorJurisdictionConditions
Supplied-Air Respirator (SAR) or Airline RespiratorFull facepieceContinuous flow mode1,00029 CFR 1910.134
Supplied-Air Respirator (SAR) or Airline RespiratorHalf maskContinuous flow mode5029 CFR 1910.134
Supplied-Air Respirator (SAR) or Airline RespiratorHelmet/hoodContinuous flow mode25/1,00029 CFR 1910.134The employer must have evidence provided by the respirator manufacturer that testing of these respirators demonstrates performance at a level of protection of 1,000 or greater to receive an APF of 1,000. This level of performance can best be demonstrated by performing a WPF or SWPF study or equivalent testing. Absent such testing, all other PAPRs and SARs with helmets/hoods are to be treated as loose-fitting facepiece respirators, and receive an APF of 25.
Supplied-Air Respirator (SAR) or Airline RespiratorLoose-fitting facepieceContinuous flow mode2529 CFR 1910.134
Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA)Full facepieceDemand mode5029 CFR 1910.134
Supplied-Air Respirator (SAR) or Airline RespiratorFull facepieceDemand mode5029 CFR 1910.134
Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA)Half maskDemand mode1029 CFR 1910.134
Supplied-Air Respirator (SAR) or Airline RespiratorHalf maskDemand mode1029 CFR 1910.134
Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA)Helmet/hoodDemand mode5029 CFR 1910.134
Air-Purifying RespiratorFull facepiece5029 CFR 1910.134
Powered Air-Purifying Respirator (PAPR)Full facepiece1,00029 CFR 1910.134
Air-Purifying RespiratorHalf mask1029 CFR 1910.134This APF category includes filtering facepieces, and half masks with elastomeric facepieces.
Powered Air-Purifying Respirator (PAPR)Half mask5029 CFR 1910.134
Powered Air-Purifying Respirator (PAPR)Helmet/hood25/1,00029 CFR 1910.134The employer must have evidence provided by the respirator manufacturer that testing of these respirators demonstrates performance at a level of protection of 1,000 or greater to receive an APF of 1,000. This level of performance can best be demonstrated by performing a WPF or SWPF study or equivalent testing. Absent such testing, all other PAPRs and SARs with helmets/hoods are to be treated as loose-fitting facepiece respirators, and receive an APF of 25.
Powered Air-Purifying Respirator (PAPR)Loose-fitting facepiece2529 CFR 1910.134
Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA)Full facepiecePressure-demand or other positive-pressure mode (e.g., open/closed circuit)10,00029 CFR 1910.134
Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA)Helmet/hoodPressure-demand or other positive-pressure mode (e.g., open/closed circuit)10,00029 CFR 1910.134
Supplied-Air Respirator (SAR) or Airline RespiratorFull facepiecePressure-demand or other positive-pressure mode1,00029 CFR 1910.134
Supplied-Air Respirator (SAR) or Airline RespiratorHalf maskPressure-demand or other positive-pressure mode5029 CFR 1910.134
Air-Purifying RespiratorQuarter mask529 CFR 1910.134
Supplied-Air Respirator (SAR)Full facepieceContinuous flow mode1,000Title 8, Section 5144
Supplied-Air Respirator (SAR)Half maskContinuous flow mode50Title 8, Section 5144
Supplied-Air Respirator (SAR)Helmet/hoodContinuous flow mode25/1,000Title 8, Section 5144The employer must have evidence provided by the respirator manufacturer that testing of these respirators demonstrates performance at a level of protection of 1,000 or greater to receive an APF of 1,000. This level of performance can best be demonstrated by performing a Workplace Protection Factor (WPF) or simulated WPF study or equivalent testing. Absent such testing, all other PAPRs and SARs with helmets/hoods are to be treated as loose-fitting facepiece respirators, and receive an APF of 25.
Supplied-Air Respirator (SAR)Loose-fitting facepieceContinuous flow mode25Title 8, Section 5144
Self-Contained Breating Apparatus (SCBA)Full facepieceDemand mode50Title 8, Section 5144
Supplied-Air Respirator (SAR)Full facepieceDemand mode50Title 8, Section 5144
Self-Contained Breating Apparatus (SCBA)Half maskDemand mode10Title 8, Section 5144
Supplied-Air Respirator (SAR)Half maskDemand mode10Title 8, Section 5144
Self-Contained Breating Apparatus (SCBA)Helmet/hoodDemand mode50Title 8, Section 5144
Air-Purifying RespiratorFull facepiece50Title 8, Section 5144
Powered Air-Purifying Respirator (PAPR)Full facepiece1,000Title 8, Section 5144
Air-Purifying RespiratorHalf mask10Title 8, Section 5144This APF category includes filtering facepieces, and half masks with elastomeric facepieces.
Powered Air-Purifying Respirator (PAPR)Half mask50Title 8, Section 5144
Powered Air-Purifying Respirator (PAPR)Helmet/hood25/1,000Title 8, Section 5144The employer must have evidence provided by the respirator manufacturer that testing of these respirators demonstrates performance at a level of protection of 1,000 or greater to receive an APF of 1,000. This level of performance can best be demonstrated by performing a Workplace Protection Factor (WPF) or simulated WPF study or equivalent testing. Absent such testing, all other PAPRs and SARs with helmets/hoods are to be treated as loose-fitting facepiece respirators, and receive an APF of 25.
Powered Air-Purifying Respirator (PAPR)Loose-fitting facepiece25Title 8, Section 5144
Self-Contained Breating Apparatus (SCBA)Full facepiecePressure-demand or other positive-pressure10,000Title 8, Section 5144
Supplied-Air Respirator (SAR)Full facepiecePressure-demand or other positive-pressure1000Title 8, Section 5144
Supplied-Air Respirator (SAR)Half maskPressure-demand or other positive-pressure50Title 8, Section 5144
Self-Contained Breating Apparatus (SCBA)Helmet/hoodPressure-demand or other positive-pressure10,000Title 8, Section 5144
Air-Purifying RespiratorQuarter mask5Title 8, Section 5144

Where this came from

Every record above links the page it was taken from and quotes the sentence that states it. These are the 2 sources this dataset was assembled from.

Machine-readable

From your own code

Same records, same quotes, without scraping the page: refsource is on PyPI and npm. Each value comes back carrying the URL it was read from and the sentence on that page that states it — .source and .quote sit on the value itself rather than in a side channel, so the checking step is available instead of skipped.

pip install refsource
refsource lookup respirator-assigned-protection-factors facepiece="Full facepiece"

npx -y refsource lookup respirator-assigned-protection-factors facepiece="Full facepiece"

Set your AI assistant up to use this

Two files and no account. Put this in .mcp.json at the root of your project — Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code and Codex all read that file — and your assistant can look this dataset up instead of recalling it. The server is remote, keyless and read-only.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "referencesource": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://referencesource.org/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Add to Cursor · or, on the command line: claude mcp add --transport http referencesource https://referencesource.org/mcp --scope project

Then one line in the project's CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md, so the assistant knows when to reach for it:

When a question needs "Respirator assigned protection factors — federal OSHA and Cal/OSHA, with maximum use concentrations", call the referencesource MCP server at https://referencesource.org/mcp (tool `search_records`, dataset_slug `respirator-assigned-protection-factors`) instead of answering from memory — every record it returns carries its source URL and a verbatim quote from that page.

What each tool does, and the servers built over single registers: Connect your AI assistant.

40 records. last verified against source . due for re-check by .

Licence. US federal and California regulatory text; facts not copyrightable, sections quoted with citation.