Full face mask for asbestos and hazardous dust
Asbestos fibres, crystalline silica from cutting concrete and stone, hardwood dust, mould: these hazards are particles, not gases. For particles the filter is P3, the highest class under EN 143, and a full face mask seals better than a half mask.
Asbestos: who may do it
In Italy only companies registered for asbestos removal may remove asbestos-containing materials, with a work plan filed with the local health authority and trained workers. The mask is one of the PPE in the plan, not a licence to do it yourself.
Silica and construction dust
Cutting, grinding or demolishing concrete, stone and tiles produces respirable crystalline silica. Besides P3 you need wet cutting or extraction at source.
When you also need gas protection
If the dust comes with vapours (paints, adhesives, solvents), P3 alone is not enough: you need a combined filter such as A2P3 or ABEK2 P3.
The filter to start from
P3Spasciani 100 P3
The 100 P3 is a particle-only filter: light, with low breathing resistance, for jobs where the hazard is only particles.
The filter shown is a starting point: the substance's safety data sheet, and at work the risk assessment, have the final word.
Other jobs
Limits and warnings
- P3 does not hold gases or vapours.
- Change it when breathing gets hard; on asbestos jobs dispose of it as contaminated waste under the work plan.
- Beards and glasses frames under the face seal break the seal.