{"id":24598,"date":"2026-09-04T11:01:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T15:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/environmental-health\/?p=24598"},"modified":"2026-09-04T11:23:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T15:23:10","slug":"counterfeit-niosh-approved-respirators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/environmental-health\/2026\/09\/04\/counterfeit-niosh-approved-respirators\/","title":{"rendered":"Counterfeit NIOSH-Approved Respirators"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Counterfeit NIOSH-Approved Respirators<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Why is this important?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Millions of workers rely on respirators to protect themselves from hazardous airborne exposures. However, counterfeit and misrepresented respirators are increasingly being sold online and in the marketplace.<\/p>\n<p>Some products may falsely claim to be <strong>NIOSH Approved\u00ae<\/strong> or may be designed to look like genuine NIOSH-approved respirators. Because these products have not been evaluated by NIOSH, they may not provide the level of protection they claim, potentially putting workers at risk.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How can you tell if a respirator is NIOSH Approved?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Look for the NIOSH <a href=\"https:\/\/wwwn.cdc.gov\/niosh-cel\/\">testing and certification (TC) approval number<\/a>, such as <strong>TC 84A-XXXX<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Check the respirator and packaging for the required NIOSH markings and labeling.<\/li>\n<li>Verify the approval number, manufacturer, and model using the <a href=\"https:\/\/wwwn.cdc.gov\/niosh-cel\/\"><strong>NIOSH Certified Equipment List (CEL)<\/strong><\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Be cautious of products with unusual or incorrect labeling, misspellings, or claims that seem too good to be true.<\/li>\n<li>Purchase respirators from reputable suppliers whenever possible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Remember:<\/strong> A respirator that looks like a NIOSH Approved\u00ae respirator is not necessarily NIOSH Approved. Take a moment to verify the product before relying on it for respiratory protection.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More Information<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/niosh\/ppe\/counterfeit_respirators\/index.html\">NIOSH: Counterfeit\/Misrepresented Respirators<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/niosh\/ppe\/niosh-approved-respirators\/index.html\">NIOSH: Identifying NIOSH Approved\u00ae Respirators<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wwwn.cdc.gov\/niosh-cel\/\">NIOSH Certified Equipment List<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Counterfeit NIOSH-Approved Respirators Why is this important? Millions of workers rely on respirators to protect themselves from hazardous airborne exposures. However, counterfeit and misrepresented respirators are increasingly being sold online and in the marketplace. Some products may falsely claim to be NIOSH Approved\u00ae or may be designed to look like genuine NIOSH-approved respirators. Because these [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":633,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"no","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-toxnews"],"modified_by":null,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Counterfeit NIOSH-Approved Respirators - Environmental Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/environmental-health\/2026\/09\/04\/counterfeit-niosh-approved-respirators\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Counterfeit NIOSH-Approved Respirators - Environmental Health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Counterfeit NIOSH-Approved Respirators Why is this important? Millions of workers rely on respirators to protect themselves from hazardous airborne exposures. However, counterfeit and misrepresented respirators are increasingly being sold online and in the marketplace. Some products may falsely claim to be NIOSH Approved\u00ae or may be designed to look like genuine NIOSH-approved respirators. 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Millions of workers rely on respirators to protect themselves from hazardous airborne exposures. However, counterfeit and misrepresented respirators are increasingly being sold online and in the marketplace. Some products may falsely claim to be NIOSH Approved\u00ae or may be designed to look like genuine NIOSH-approved respirators. 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