ABSTRACT
Facial hair such as a beard, mustache, sideburns, low hairline, bangs, and a slight growth of stubble can permit leakage of a hazardous atmosphere into the interior of the respiratory-inlet covering. Such leakage may occur with tight-fitting facepieces of nonpowercd air-purifying respirators and even with tight-fitting facepieces and loose-fitting facepieces of powered air-purifying respirators and atmosphere-supplying respirators. Also, facial hair between the sealing surface of a tight-fitting facepiece of an atmosphere-supplying respirator and the respirator wearer's face may permit loss of respirable air supplied to the facepiece which is a waste of respirable air and may result in a reduced use period of the respirator if the respirable air comes from a container having a fixed quantity of respirable air. Facial hair may also interfere with the operation of a valve located in a respiratory-inlet covering. Therefore, a person having facial hair should be prohibited from wearing a respirator with such a respiratory-inlet covering in a hazardous area.
