Application of Nanomaterials in Personal Respiratory Protection Equipment: A Literature Review

Exposure to air pollutants leads to a variety of health effects in humans. Inhalation is one of the most common routs of exposure to poor quality air, mostly in work environments. Respiratory masks are used to prevent breathing in hazardous gases and vapors, especially in the absence of proper controlling measures. This study aims to review the effectiveness of respiratory masks with a nanostructure. The electronic search of the genuine databases, including PubMed, Magiran, Iran Medex, Science Database (SID), Science Direct, Web of Science, and Scopus, was conducted in January and February 2017 in chronological order of publications with the keywords defined in the search strategy. Of all identified papers, nine were collected and included in the study. The results of this study indicated that the use of nanomaterials in the structure of brand new mask filters compared with conventional masks enhances the performance and efficiency of breathing air filtration, improves permeability, increases antimicrobial properties, and offers reasonable comfort to the workers.