Full face mask for painting on site and in joinery
Solvent paints, wood stains, floor varnishes, anti-rust primers: on building sites and in joineries people breathe solvent vapour, often in poorly ventilated rooms. A full face mask with an A2P3 filter covers both the vapours and the sanding dust.
What is in the air
Solvent paints and stains release organic vapours: letter A.
Sanding wood and old paint makes fine dust; dust from some hardwoods is carcinogenic. You need P3.
Spray application (airless, spray gun) adds product mist: P3 again.
When you need AX
An A filter covers organic compounds boiling above 65 °C. Some paint strippers and very volatile thinners boil below that: they need an AX filter. The boiling point is on the safety data sheet, in the physical properties section.
Old paint
On old buildings paint may contain lead. Sanding it or stripping it with heat releases dangerous dust and fumes: P3 is the minimum, and the job must be planned in the risk assessment.
The filter to start from
A2 P3Spasciani 202 A2P3
A2 for solvent vapours, P3 for sanding dust and the mist from spray application.
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
- Opening windows and ventilating comes first: in a closed room vapours build up fast.
- A gas filter runs out with no visible sign: change it as soon as you smell solvent.
- Do not use the filter to enter tanks, pits or rooms where the air may be short of oxygen.