HeroX Partners with NIOSH to Combat Surge in Counterfeit N95 Respirators

Challenge aims to help both vendors and purchasers identify counterfeit N95s respirators; Prize purse of $145K

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- HeroX, the leading platform and open marketplace for crowdsourced solutions, today launched the crowdsourcing competition "The NIOSH Counterfeit N95 Challenge" on behalf of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL). The Challenge seeks solutions that will assist vendors and purchasers in identifying counterfeit N95 filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs).

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an overwhelming flood of counterfeit N95 FFRs that leave the wearer vulnerable to the spread of virus and other particulates. Many of these counterfeit respirators are falsely advertised as having NIOSH approval but lack the required labeling and protections of a valid NIOSH-approved N95 FFR. From 2020 to 2021, the US government seized more than 20 million counterfeit respirators.

"While we have a great deal of information available on our NIOSH website to help identify NIOSH-approved N95 FFRs, counterfeit respirators remain on the market?putting workers' safety and health at risk" said Dr. Maryann D'Alessandro, Director of NPPTL at NIOSH. "We hope this Challenge will help us identify additional strategies to mitigate the distribution and purchase of counterfeit respirators and keep workers safe on the job."

The specific goal of this Challenge is to develop tools and resources that empower vendors, purchasers, and end users to be stewards who act in both the marketplace and workplace environments to mitigate counterfeit N95 FFRs.

"We don't want people wearing counterfeit N95 FFRs and believing they are more protected than they actually are," said Kal Sahota, CEO, HeroX. "I am confident that our talented network of HeroX solvers will know how to get the word out about these counterfeit respirators and help keep us all safer."

The Challenge: This Challenge offers participating groups the opportunity to submit and develop new resources and tools that will combat counterfeit N95 FFRs.

The Prize: There is a total prize purse of $145,000 across 2 phases.

Eligibility to Compete and Win Prize(s): The Challenge is open to anyone age 18 or older participating as an individual or as a team. Individual competitors and teams may originate from any country, as long as United States federal sanctions do not prohibit participation.

To accept the challenge, visit herox.com/NIOSHCounterfeitN95

HeroX is a platform and open marketplace for crowdsourcing innovation and human ingenuity, co-founded in 2013 by serial entrepreneur, Christian Cotichini and XPRIZE Founder and Futurist, Peter Diamandis. HeroX offers a turnkey, easy-to-use platform that supports anyone, anywhere, to solve everyday business and world challenges using the power of the crowd. Uniquely positioned as the Social Network for Innovation, HeroX is the only place you can build, grow, and curate your very own crowd.

Explore the latest challenges at www.herox.com

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SOURCE HeroX