A powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) provides which of the following?

A powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) provides which of the following?

• A. Draws air from outside the work area and provides negative pressure
• B. Draws air from within the work area across HEPA filters and supplies a face mask with positive pressure by battery
• C. Uses chemical cartridges and no helmet
• D. Passive, non-powered filtration with no positive pressure

Answer: (B)

A PAPR works by using a battery-powered blower to pull ambient air through a HEPA filter and then deliver that clean air to the wearer’s facepiece or hood, creating a positive pressure inside. That positive pressure means air inside pushes outward slightly, so any small gap tends to leak air out rather than let contaminated air flow in. This setup relies on filtered, supplied air rather than pulling air in through the facepiece itself, which is why it protects even when the fit isn’t perfectly tight. The air source is the surrounding environment, but after passing through the HEPA filter, it’s delivered as clean, pressurized air to the user. This matches the described scenario best because it emphasizes the battery-powered blower, HEPA filtration, and positive pressure to the facepiece. Other respirator configurations either rely on negative pressure (drawing air in through the filter as you inhale), use chemical cartridges without a helmet, or are non-powered and lack the positive-pressure protection PAPRs provide.

A PAPR works by using a battery-powered blower to pull ambient air through a HEPA filter and then deliver that clean air to the wearer’s facepiece or hood, creating a positive pressure inside. That positive pressure means air inside pushes outward slightly, so any small gap tends to leak air out rather than let contaminated air flow in. This setup relies on filtered, supplied air rather than pulling air in through the facepiece itself, which is why it protects even when the fit isn’t perfectly tight. The air source is the surrounding environment, but after passing through the HEPA filter, it’s delivered as clean, pressurized air to the user.

This matches the described scenario best because it emphasizes the battery-powered blower, HEPA filtration, and positive pressure to the facepiece. Other respirator configurations either rely on negative pressure (drawing air in through the filter as you inhale), use chemical cartridges without a helmet, or are non-powered and lack the positive-pressure protection PAPRs provide.