Metzger f , Gilles Richner f. Transmission occurs by droplets, contact and aerosols. In medical settings, filtering facepiece FFP respirators are recommended for use by personnel exposed to aerosol-generating procedures.
During the COVID pandemic, the demand for FFP respirators exceeded their supply worldwide and low-quality products appeared on the market, potentially putting healthcare workers at risk. To raise awareness about variations in quality of imported FFP respirators in Switzerland during the COVID pandemic, to draw attention to the current directives regulating the market launch of FFP respirators in Switzerland, to provide practical support in identifying suspicious products or documents and, finally, to offer strategies aimed at reducing the distribution of low-quality FFP respirators in the future.
Additionally, Spiez Laboratory visually inspected the products, examined the certification documents and crosschecked the product information with international databases. The demand for FFP respirators exceeded the supply capacity from established suppliers of the Swiss market.
New production and import channels emerged, as did the number of poor-quality FFP respirators. FFP respirators remaining in stocks should be checked for conformity before being used, or eliminated and replaced if quality does not meet standards. Furthermore, up to 40, droplets can be expelled during a single sneeze [3, 4]. Recent reports have suggested that healthcare workers are at increased risk of COVID infection, particularly when access to personal protective equipment PPE is inadequate [5].
To protect healthcare workers from aerosols, particularly during aerosol-generating procedures, wearing a filtering facepiece FFP respirator is recommended [6]. Healthcare settings use mainly FFP2 respirators.
