The bacterial and viral filtration performance of breathing system filters.

The bacterial and viral filtration performance of 12 breathing system filters was determined using test methods specified in the draft European standard for breathing system filters, BS EN 13328-1. All the filters were of two types, either pleated hydrophobic or electrostatic, and these two types differed in their filtration performance. The filtration performance is expressed in terms of the microbial penetration value, defined as the number of microbes passing through the filter per 10 million microbes in the challenge. The geometric mean (95% confidence limits) microbial penetration value was 1.0 (0.5, 3.5) and 2390 (617, 10 000) for the pleated hydrophobic and electrostatic filters, respectively, for the bacterial challenge, and 87 (48, 212) and 32 600 (10 900, 84 900), respectively, for the viral challenge. In general, there was little change in the microbial penetration values following 24 h simulated use. It is concluded that results from the tests specified in the draft standard will allow comparisons to be made between different manufacturers' products enabling an informed choice to be made.