Hantavirus

For those of you have have heard me go on about this in the past, I
apologize for sounding like a broken record, *but* the subject is
important.  Wearing a "mask" when trying to safeguard your respiratory
path provides nothing more than psychological protection.  If there is a
concern about breathing in hazardous (and that means hazardous to you)
particulates or vapors, contact someone who has a respirator and can do
the job for you.  Ascertain that they have been *fit tested*.  Just
*wearing* a respirator without being fit tested provides *no assurance*
that the respirator is doing its job.

This is a very serious and not uncommon issue.  The Health and Safety
Committee of AIC is currently involved in trying to put together a day
long workshop on respiratory protection for the June 1995 meeting in the
Twin Cities.  I will be happy to provide more information about this
potential event as it becomes available.

Hilary A. Kaplan
Conservator
Georgia Department of Archives and History

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 8:45
                 Distributed: Sunday, December 11, 1994
                        Message Id: cdl-8-45-002
                                  ***