Respiratory protection strategies for the public in emergency response.

This article focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of respiratory protection equipment (RPE), specifically N95 masks, in reducing internal and external exposure to radioactive aerosols during emergency evacuations following a nuclear power plant accident, using the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant (FDNPP) incident as a case study. The study models five evacuation routes from Namie Town and assesses inhalation doses of radioactive iodine-131 (^131I) and cesium-137 (^137Cs) based on atmospheric dispersion and resuspension data. Results indicate that wearing N95 RPE can reduce internal inhalation doses by approximately 97.2%, while replacing masks within 48 hours decreases external exposure from accumulated radioactive particles by about 91.4%. The findings highlight the importance of minimizing face seal leakage and filter penetration, especially for particles smaller than 0.43 micrometers, to enhance protection during nuclear emergency evacuations.