An Interview with Maryann D’Alessandro and Bob Stein,
National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory

January 15, 2020 was the 100-year anniversary of the first time an air respirator was ever approved for use by the U.S. Bureau of Mines.

Since then, there have been many significant strides made in the development of new escape respirators, as well as the processes used for testing their effectiveness and maintainability.

Maryann D’Alessandro, Ph.D. is the Director of NIOSH’s National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) where much of the testing takes place.

Robert R. Stein, P.E. is a senior scientist and engineer for the Technology Evaluation Branch of the NPPTL.

Here’s a new “Dig a Little Deeper” interview with Ms. D’Alessandro and Mr. Stein that explains what type of work is done at the NPPTL and how escape air respirator technologies have progressed over the last decade or so.

For more information about the 100-year anniversary of the first air respirator, followed by the actual approval of the first unit, go here.

To watch the video interview with Maryann D’Alessandro and Bob Stein, click here to see CORESafety TV.