I have spent some time reading the threads that have been posted on dust collection on our site. I have been looking for an easy way to get those that are interested the information that would be useful for the discussion. Oneida does a pretty good job of presenting factual data about dust collection which is tied to size of the dust, its relationship to being filtered and the deposition of that matter in the lungs. It is not perfect but it is factual.
http://www.oneida-air.com/static.asp?htmltemplate=static/top-notch-filtration.html
There are references in this piece that will take you to much more detailed discussions if one is interested. One can also go the OSHA or NIOSH web sites and search dust and you will get a ton of material to read. One reference will take you to a summary of all the published data on the health studies for wood dust that were published prior to about 2011
If one is focused on trying to keep the shop clean then collecting the dust down to a 5 micron size will do most of what you want to achieve as that accounts for probably 99% of the mass of the material that is created. If one is concerned about the health of your lungs then you want to collect the material that is much smaller down the the sub micron level such a 0.1 micron. Most collection systems are not designed to collect the material that is that small. So while they will collect some of it most of it just passes through the filters back into the environment. Dust that size stays suspended for a relatively long period of time. Furnace filters are typically not designed to take out the small particles unless you approach a filter that is designed to be used for a a clean room. You can go to Wikipedia and look up MERV ratings to get much more information of furnace filters.
If one is really concerned about the health of your lungs you should be wearing a NIOSH approved Respirator. A N95 NIOSH approved respirator is designed against a 0.3 micron test particle and must statistically filter at least 95% of those particles all the time. Which translates to the fact that they will filter 99+% of those particles when they the leave the factory. Therefore that will do that job very well. A product that is referred to as a dust mask will not filter sub micron particles. You should put it on when you enter your shop and take it off when you leave.
So when you are buying equipment one should really have a good understanding of what you want to achieve and look very closely at the specifications for the equipment that you want to acquire to ensure that you can achieve your goal. Particulate Filtration is a complicated science and the professionals HVAC people have a very different goals from that of the respirator professionals who are designing products to keep the dust out of your lungs. The clean room professionals and the respirator professionals are in the same ball park and deal in terms like HEPA filtration.
I spent 20 years in the respirator business. Ten leading a group that invented filter media and designed particulate respirators. Then I was responsible for the global development of all of our safety products for the Industrial work place and finally spent the last several years in the regulatory and quality assurance for the global product line.
I hope this information helps those that are trying improve their shop environment. iF interested I can try to reach out and pull together a more comprehensive treatment of the topic.
http://www.oneida-air.com/static.asp?htmltemplate=static/top-notch-filtration.html
There are references in this piece that will take you to much more detailed discussions if one is interested. One can also go the OSHA or NIOSH web sites and search dust and you will get a ton of material to read. One reference will take you to a summary of all the published data on the health studies for wood dust that were published prior to about 2011
If one is focused on trying to keep the shop clean then collecting the dust down to a 5 micron size will do most of what you want to achieve as that accounts for probably 99% of the mass of the material that is created. If one is concerned about the health of your lungs then you want to collect the material that is much smaller down the the sub micron level such a 0.1 micron. Most collection systems are not designed to collect the material that is that small. So while they will collect some of it most of it just passes through the filters back into the environment. Dust that size stays suspended for a relatively long period of time. Furnace filters are typically not designed to take out the small particles unless you approach a filter that is designed to be used for a a clean room. You can go to Wikipedia and look up MERV ratings to get much more information of furnace filters.
If one is really concerned about the health of your lungs you should be wearing a NIOSH approved Respirator. A N95 NIOSH approved respirator is designed against a 0.3 micron test particle and must statistically filter at least 95% of those particles all the time. Which translates to the fact that they will filter 99+% of those particles when they the leave the factory. Therefore that will do that job very well. A product that is referred to as a dust mask will not filter sub micron particles. You should put it on when you enter your shop and take it off when you leave.
So when you are buying equipment one should really have a good understanding of what you want to achieve and look very closely at the specifications for the equipment that you want to acquire to ensure that you can achieve your goal. Particulate Filtration is a complicated science and the professionals HVAC people have a very different goals from that of the respirator professionals who are designing products to keep the dust out of your lungs. The clean room professionals and the respirator professionals are in the same ball park and deal in terms like HEPA filtration.
I spent 20 years in the respirator business. Ten leading a group that invented filter media and designed particulate respirators. Then I was responsible for the global development of all of our safety products for the Industrial work place and finally spent the last several years in the regulatory and quality assurance for the global product line.
I hope this information helps those that are trying improve their shop environment. iF interested I can try to reach out and pull together a more comprehensive treatment of the topic.
