Escape Respirator for First Responders

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): First responders are the men and women who are first on the scene of a natural or man- made disaster. They are also the last to leave the scene. First responders are policemen, firemen, and emergency medical technicians. There are 11 million state and local first responders in 87,000 jurisdictions throughout the United States. Escape hoods that are effective against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) agents need to be developed and approved by the NIOSH so that first responders may use them effectively. TDA Research, Inc. (TDA) and its commercial partner are jointly proposing to develop a CBRN escape hood that will meet the recently announced standards by the NIOSH. In addition to CBRN protection, the escape hood will be designed to be effective against carbon monoxide. In the Phase I project, has designed, fabricated, and tested catalytic materials that were effective in removing CO at or below room temperatures. TDA and its partner tested the product successfully using NIOSH specified criteria. In the Phase II project, TDA and its partner will scale up the catalyst, optimize composition and amounts and test it in a canister. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: TDA Research, Inc. (TDA) and its collaborator are collaborating to develop a respirator filter canister for an Escape Hood to protect the workforce in general, and first responders in particular, from Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) hazards and carbon monoxide (CO). The goal of the project is for TDA is to develop an inexpensive, durable and active catalyst that destroys CO by oxidation to CO2 under NIOSH specified conditions. In this Phase II project, TDA will; optimize the catalyst formulation, amount, scale up the catalyst, test the catalyst and, with our partner's help, evaluate the performance of the catalyst under NIOSH prescribed test conditions.