Asbestos

1969383S said

My current company does not do much cutting or such and mainly drilling in concrete. We must use hepa filter captured drills when doing anything more than 4 holes. That said the environment we work in has much more silicosis work and we have a stop work policy for such!

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OK.
Remember that you can read "anything" on the internet.
But I've spent hours researching and this is what I've gleaned.
Supplied air is best.
One would think since these are approved for asbestos you could use them for silica.


But I started reading the enclosed sheet and couldn't make head or tails of it.
It's all lawyer talk and gobbledygook gook.
Not just me.
I gave it to a mechanical engineer and he couldn't understand it ether.
Bottom line: 3M will not approve them for silica.
I sure it has to do with PEL and exposure limits.
3M doesn't know what concentration levels you will be working in or how long.
Plus I suspect it has to do with the particle size of silica dust.
Be careful.

So I started trying to find that information.
The ONLY place I found exposure levels for silica dust for half mask was that the CDC web site.
IIRC they gave OSHA limits for half mask.
I've got that at work if anyone is interested.