Breathing air quality analysis - NF EN 12021 standard
NF EN 12021 standard determines the need for breathing air quality. In industry, the nuclear sector, pollution control, or asbestos, whenever staff features respiratory protection devices (air-supplied respirators, self-contained breathing apparatus, breathing air carts, etc.) supplied by a compressed air network, the limit values imposed by NF EN 12021 standard must be respected.
In this section, you'll find all the equipment needed to monitor and analyze breathing air, whether using colorimetric reagent tubes for one-off measurements or control or analysis cases for continuous breathing air quality monitoring.
Standard NF EN 12021
- The main requirements are as follows
- Oxygen content (O2): 21% (±1%)
- Carbon dioxide (CO2) content: < 500 ppm
- Carbon monoxide (CO) content: < 5 ppm
- Oil vapour < 0.5ppm or 0.5 mg/m3 (mainly from the air compressor)
- Inhaled air must be odorless and tasteless
- The breathing air network must not contain water in a liquid state. The dew point must be low enough to avoid condensation or icing, i.e., -5°c from the lowest temperature
See also
Self-contained breathing apparatus - Supplied air respirator - Breathing air cylinder cart - SCBA compressed air cylinders