Nom 116 Stps Mexican Respirator Standard

What is NOM-116-STPS, and which respirators are approved in Mexico?

Published August 4, 2026 · Last updated August 4, 2026

Short answer: NOM-116-STPS — in full, NOM-116-STPS-2009 — is Mexico's official standard (Norma Oficial Mexicana) for negative-pressure air-purifying particulate respirators, applying to every such respirator manufactured, marketed, distributed, or imported in Mexican territory. Its classification deliberately mirrors NIOSH 42 CFR 84 — N, R, and P series crossed with 95, 99, and 100 efficiency levels — and in practice the Mexican industrial market runs overwhelmingly on NIOSH-approved models. Workplace selection and employer obligations sit in a separate norm, NOM-017-STPS, Mexico's PPE selection-and-use standard.

This guide is the Mexican leg of our international respirator standards pillar, written for EHS professionals running cross-border US–Mexico operations, buyers supplying Mexican plants, and anyone decoding a Spanish-language respirator label. Of the six systems in the hub, Mexico's is the most tightly coupled to the US one — which makes the details worth knowing precisely, because the coupling is classification-level, not certification-level.

Why this matters.
The Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social (STPS) enforces workplace-safety norms through inspection, and PPE findings are among the most common citations in Mexican manufacturing. For the thousands of US companies operating Mexican plants, respiratory protection is where two regulatory systems meet on one worker's face: the respirator is typically the same NIOSH-approved model used stateside, but the paperwork that makes it compliant — risk analysis under NOM-017, conformity with NOM-116's marking requirements — is Mexican. Programs that copy-paste their US documentation without the Mexican layer fail local inspection with fully compliant hardware.

What NOM-116-STPS-2009 covers

NOM-116-STPS-2009, published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación and in force since 2010, replaced the 1994 edition and establishes the specifications and test methods for negative-pressure air-purifying particulate respirators. Its scope is broad by design: manufacture, marketing, distribution, and importation in national territory all fall under it. A 2017 modification (Acuerdo de Modificación, DOF, March 2017) updated the norm's conformity-assessment provisions — the practical route by which products demonstrate compliance.

Like NIOSH's 42 CFR Part 84, NOM-116 is a product standard: it defines what the respirator must do, not when a workplace must issue one. The program half of the system — hazard analysis, selection, training, and supervision — belongs to NOM-017-STPS, covered in Part 3.

The classification: a deliberate NIOSH mirror

NOM-116 classifies particulate respirators exactly the way US buyers already know:

The mapping to US classes is one-to-one: an N95 is an N95 in both systems, and the P100 tier tops both ladders. What the letters and numbers mean in selection terms is decoded in our filter-types guide, and the elastomeric-side cartridge logic in the cartridge label guide — both apply on Mexican shelves, usually with bilingual packaging.

The workplace layer: NOM-017-STPS

NOM-017-STPS is Mexico's PPE selection-and-use norm (the 2008 edition has been the long-operative text; confirm the current edition in the DOF for compliance documentation). It requires employers to run a risk analysis per workstation, select PPE against the identified hazards, provide it at no cost, train workers in its use and limitations, and supervise actual use. For respiratory protection that means the familiar program skeleton: hazard identification, class selection, fit, training, maintenance, and records — the same architecture as OSHA 1910.134 and its written-program requirements, expressed in Mexican regulatory language.

Specific hazards carry their own norms on top — mining, welding, and confined work each have STPS instruments — and the exposure-limit side runs through NOM-010-STPS for chemical agents. Cross-border program owners will recognize the pattern: the when-do-you-need-a-respirator decision is universal; the citations underneath it are national.

Market practice: NIOSH approval as the working currency

Walk a Mexican industrial-supply aisle and the respirators are the ones US buyers know — the 3M 8210 class of disposables, elastomeric half masks like the 3M 6000 series, P100 filters like the 3M 2097 — carrying NIOSH TC approvals alongside bilingual labeling. Because NOM-116's classes mirror NIOSH's, a NIOSH-approved N95 satisfies the class expectations Mexican selection documents express, and major manufacturers certify their Mexican-market products against the norm through the conformity routes the 2017 modification defines.

The buyer's verification habit translates directly: check the TC number and class marking exactly as our 42 CFR 84 guide teaches, and treat unmarked "N95-style" masks as uncertified regardless of language. Counterfeit pressure concentrates in disposables in every market this hub covers.

Safety note: NOM-116 covers only negative-pressure air-purifying particulate respirators — like every system in this hub, it leaves oxygen-deficient atmospheres and IDLH-level exposures to supplied-air and SCBA equipment selected by a qualified professional under the applicable STPS norms.

Running one program across the US and Mexico

The practical playbook for a binational program:

• Standardize hardware on NIOSH-approved models — the same SKUs satisfy both markets' class expectations, simplifying procurement and training.
• Localize the paperwork — US sites document to 1910.134; Mexican sites document risk analysis, selection, and training to NOM-017's requirements, in Spanish.
• Keep fit testing common — Mexican practice imports the same qualitative and quantitative protocols; run the program-wide method from our fit-testing guide and keep records bilingual.
• Train the universal skills — donning and doffing and the user seal check don't change at the border.

Worked example: a sanding line in a Monterrey plant

A furniture manufacturer's sanding line generates wood dust. Applying the Mexican system end to end:

1. Risk analysis per NOM-017. Identify the workstation's dust exposure, duration, and existing controls; document it in the plant's PPE analysis.
2. Select the class. Wood dust at typical concentrations puts the task in the 95-tier: an N95 disposable — the 3M 8210 archetype, with model-level alternatives in our woodworking dust-mask guide — or an elastomeric half mask with P100s for all-day comfort economics, per the half-mask selection guide.
3. Verify markings. NIOSH TC number and N95/P100 class on the device; bilingual packaging consistent with the marking.
4. Fit test and train. Qualitative protocol per wearer, recorded; training on use, limitations, and seal checks in Spanish.
5. Maintain and supervise. Replacement on damage or breathing resistance, storage per the maintenance guide, and supervision that the PPE is actually worn — the NOM-017 obligation inspectors test first.

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Frequently asked questions

What is NOM-116-STPS, and which respirators are approved in Mexico?

NOM-116-STPS — in full, NOM-116-STPS-2009 — is Mexico's official standard (Norma Oficial Mexicana) for negative-pressure air-purifying particulate respirators, applying to every such respirator manufactured, marketed, distributed, or imported in Mexican territory. Its classification deliberately mirrors NIOSH 42 CFR 84 — N, R, and P series crossed with 95, 99, and 100 efficiency levels — and in practice the Mexican industrial market runs overwhelmingly on NIOSH-approved models.

What is the classification?

The mapping to US classes is one-to-one: an N95 is an N95 in both systems, and the P100 tier tops both ladders. What the letters and numbers mean in selection terms is decoded in our filter-types guide, and the elastomeric-side cartridge logic in the cartridge label guide — both apply on Mexican shelves, usually with bilingual packaging.

What is the workplace layer?

NOM-017-STPS is Mexico's PPE selection-and-use norm (the 2008 edition has been the long-operative text; confirm the current edition in the DOF for compliance documentation). It requires employers to run a risk analysis per workstation, select PPE against the identified hazards, provide it at no cost, train workers in its use and limitations, and supervise actual use.

What is market practice?

Walk a Mexican industrial-supply aisle and the respirators are the ones US buyers know — the 3M 8210 class of disposables, elastomeric half masks like the 3M 6000 series, P100 filters like the 3M 2097 — carrying NIOSH TC approvals alongside bilingual labeling. Because NOM-116's classes mirror NIOSH's, a NIOSH-approved N95 satisfies the class expectations Mexican selection documents express, and major manufacturers certify their Mexican-market products against the norm through the conformity routes the 2017 modification defines.

What is worked example?

A furniture manufacturer's sanding line generates wood dust. Applying the Mexican system end to end:

Further reading on this site

• International respirator standards: the complete guide — the pillar, with the six-system equivalence table.
• NIOSH 42 CFR Part 84 — the certification system Mexico's classes mirror.
• CSA Z94.4: Canada's standard — the other NIOSH-coupled neighbor, for the full North American picture.
• OSHA 1910.134 — the US program architecture NOM-017 parallels.
• Respirator fit testing — the protocols binational programs standardize on.
• Disposable respirators — reviewed N95/P100-tier disposables.
• Half mask respirators — elastomeric options for sustained exposures.

Related reference

Neighbouring references on this site: how to don and doff a respirator, how to read a respirator cartridge label, how to seal check a respirator, p100 vs n95: what's the difference and which do you need?, how to choose a respirator cartridge: complete selection guide, and combination cartridge vs separate filter + cartridge — which respirator.

Why trust WC Safety

WC Safety is an independent, affiliate-supported review site. It is not a retailer: it holds no inventory, takes no orders, and earns only from qualifying purchases through clearly marked links — which never changes what a product is rated to do. Standards language is taken from the regulation text directly, and ratings are reported as the manufacturer publishes them. We run no laboratory and perform no testing of our own. Where published sources disagree, we say so and plan on the conservative figure rather than the flattering one.

Our methodology

Figures come from the regulation and the published specification, in that order. Derated numbers are calculated, not estimated. Nothing here is presented as a measured result, because we measure nothing.

Researched and written by Steven Eaton, editor of WC Safety. Steven holds no safety certification and does not test products; this page compares what manufacturers and regulators publish, with the gaps in that record marked. Last reviewed August 2026.

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