RJCHAS 135 12

FEATURE

Four decad eclothing de

aar

Q1UNClab aprons, lab coats, suits (turn outgear) and fully encapsulated suits werebasic clothing materials used for pro-

tection in the 1970s. In academicchemistry laboratories students wereeither given or asked to purchase labcoats and aprons for required labora-tory courses. Some types of clothing

of a new co-polymer that was resis-tance to all of the standard battery testchemicals for 4 hours and hence wasnamed the 4-H glove.

The 1980s saw the development ofmany new performance test methods,guidance documents and practicesfrom ASTMs committee F23. Physicaltest methods for thermal, flame, cutand penetration resistance were devel-oped as well as a fully encapsulatedsuit pressure test. It was also recog-nized that given the burden of thickheavy suit materials used for reusable

needed that were stronger than naturallatex, notprone to having pin holes, tearor be punctured, and also free of naturallatex protein responsible for allergies.This resulted in the development ofthin, stronger more durable syntheticnitrile glove now used and recom-mended in the healthcare industry.

With the turn of the century in 2000,protective clothing developmentsfocused on a new area of concern,responding to chemical, nuclear andbiological threats from agents of massdestruction. Protective clothing used

Norman W. Henry III, MS, CIH, isaffiliated with SHBP (Safety andHealth by Protection), 129 BallantraeDr, Elkton, MD 21921, United States(e-mail: shbp65@comcast.net).

1871-5532/$32.00 Division of Chemical Health and Safety of the American Chemical Society 1doi:10.1016/j.jchas.2007.05.003 Published by Elsevier Inc.

Please cite this article in press as: Henry N. W. Four decades of protective clothing development and standardization, J. Chem. HealthstandardizThe developments of the stand

By Norman W. Henry III

Protective clothing developmentplayed a key role in NASAs successin the space program in the 1960s, butit was not until the passage of theOccupational Safety and Health Actin 1970 that protective clothingbecame a priority in safety and healthprograms for controlling exposure inthe occupational environment. Thetechnology and knowledge developedin the composition of materials forconstruction and design of space suitswas also needed to protect workers inthe occupational environment fromchemical, physical and biologicalhazards. Chemicals used in the pro-duction of industrial and consumerproducts were being identified as car-cinogens, radiation exposure wasknown to cause cancer and exposureto known and unknown biologicalagents were a threat to spread disease.With this background, it was recog-nized that a new effort was neededto provide better protection to workersin all occupations where protectiveclothing was used to control exposure.

Depending on the type of occupa-tion and need for protection, gloves,Safety (2007), doi:10.1016/j.jchas.2007.05.00ORRE

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es of protvelopmenttion

ds for protective clothing are reviewed.

were disposable, while others werereusable depending on durability andcost. The clothing and suit materialswere made from both natural and syn-thetic materials such as latex, cottonand neoprene. However, not muchwas known about their performanceother than rudimentary physicaldegradation test method data with spe-cific commodity chemicals such asacids, bases and solvents. Physical per-formance data consisted of weightgain, tensile strength and percent elon-gation. It was not until about 1978 thatASTM recognized the need for stan-dardized performance data on protec-tive clothing for users and established anew technical committee, F23, on Pro-tective Clothing. It was from this com-mittee in 1983 that the first chemicalpermeation test method was devel-oped (ASTM F-739).1 This methodprovided permeation data and gui-dance on the selection of various poly-mer materials to one sided exposure tospecific gases and liquid chemicals.Finding a polymer material that wasresistance to ASTMs recommendedstandard battery of test chemicalsbecame a challenge, but led to thedevelopment of a glove material made3OOF

ctiveand

protective clothing that a more flex-ible, light weight material was neededto allow for dexterity and mobility,hence human factor standards wereconsidered for comfort and heat stressconcerns. Meanwhile, protectiveclothing programs were being devel-oped in industry, academia, govern-ment and the military using guidancedocuments such as OSHAs ChemicalHygiene Plan and manufacturers che-mical and physical resistance guidesproduced from data generated fromASTMs performance test methods.

The 1990s saw the evolution of bio-logical penetration standards for pro-tection against exposure to blood andblood borne pathogens. Two newASTM emergency standards weredeveloped to test the resistance of glovematerials and gowns to penetration ofsynthetic blood and a specific bacterio-phage having the same size as the hepa-titis and AIDS virus.2 Both methodssoon became performance standardsto be used in the healthcare industrywhere a Biological Exposure Plan wasrequired by OSHA. Also of note, wasthe recognition of latex allergies pro-duced from routinely wearing latexgloves. New synthetic gloves were

UR

for emergency response to such situa-tions was needed. Hazmat teamsalready had performance data to selectappropriate clothing to respond toaccidental chemical spills and releases,but now there was the unexpectedpotential exposure to a war gas, radio-

wear the vests. These are some of themore recent developments in protectiveclothing that have occurred in this dec-ade of world unrest and uncertainty.Past decade developments can be foundin ASTMs STPs (Standard TechnicalPublications) that contain Symposiumpublications on protective clothingresearch conducted between 1980

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four decades of protective clothingdevelopments have resulted in thedevelopment of new products with bet-ter protection, greater selection andmore trained users. These develop-ments would not have been possiblewithout support from government reg-ulatory and research programs, as well

JCHAS 135 12active material or biological agentssuch as Anthrax. In the medical fieldoccupational exposure to radiationfrom X-rays used for diagnoses was aconcern, so ASTM committee F23formed a subcommittee for radiationprotective clothing that produced astandard for materials used to protectagainst radiation generated during theuse of X-ray equipment.3

In the research community, anothereffort was also needed to address pro-tective clothing requirements in nano-technology, where particles 1/1000ththe diameter of human hair potentiallycould penetrate protective clothing bar-riers. Because of these needs ASTM,NFPA, NIOSH, AIHA, NIST and otherprofessional, technical, research andstandard organizations and institutionscollaborated research, funds, personneland resources toward an internationaleffort to protect both workers and civi-lians potentially at risk. Recently,NIOSH opened up a new NationalPersonal Protective TechnologyLaboratory in Pittsburg, PA and ASTMwent international to (ASTM Interna-tional). Some of the most recent devel-opments include the use of siliconnanoparticles to coat Kevlar army suitsto protect soldiers from shrapnel inju-ries in the Middle East war. Kevlaralready was used in bullet proof veststopreventballisticpenetration,but nowcoated with silicon would provideadded protection from smaller artilleryfragments. Also, because of the addedweight on these Kevlar vests and hotenvironment in the Middle East War, anew body ventilation device (system)was developed to cool soldiers as theyPlease cite this article in press as: Henry N. W

Safety (2007), doi:10.1016/j.jchas.2007.05.00

2Journal of Chemical Health & Safety, JNCOR

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and 2000.So today if you would survey protec-

tive clothing users, you would see moreusers in the occupational environmentwearing protective clothing and greateravailability of different types of protec-tive clothing. With the establishment ofregulatory chemical and biological con-trol plans by OSHA, protective clothingprograms with hazard assessments,training requirements, standard operat-ing procedures and access to perfor-mance data generated from standardmethods, users now have the informa-tion needed to select appropriate cloth-ing for protection. The development ofnew synthetic polymers and co-poly-mers asbarriermaterials coatedor lami-nated on gloves or suit materials hasimproved resistance to various chemi-cal solvents. At the same time some ofthese materials can be fabricated intolightweight disposable garments thatreduce the potential of contaminationfrom reuse, cost of decontaminationand burden of heat stress. Otherimprovements are being made indesigning clothing compatible with per-sonal protective equipment such asrespirators, shrouds, hats, gloves andboots. Because of this, ASTM commit-tee F23 has changed its scope and titleto Protective Clothing and Equipmentto respond to combined needs for spe-cifications in both types of protection.In many instances specification stan-dards are being developed to allow forcompatibility of individual items ofclothing with other types of personalprotective equipment. Overall, the last. Four decades of protective clothing developm

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uly/August 2007OOFas technical and professional safetyorganizations working together. The

outcome of these developments hasbeen to improve protection and preventexposure to potential harmful agents inthe occupational and community envir-onments where agents of mass destruc-tion threaten our lives. So we have gonefrom the remote environment in spaceto the occupational environment andnow the community environmentwhere portable protective clothing willhopefully save lives in the event of anatural disaster or terror attack

REFERENCES[1]. Henry, N. W.; Schlatter, C. N. The

development of a standard method forevaluating chemical protective cloth-ing to permeation by liquids. Am. Ind.Hyg. Assoc. J. 1981, 42, 202207.

[2]. ASTM F-1670 and F-1671, StandardTest Methods for Resistance of Mate-rials Used in Protective Clothing toPenetration by Synthetic Blood (F-1670) and Penetration by Blood BornePathogens Using Phi-X174 (F-1671).ASTM Annual Book of Standards,Section 11, Volume 11.03, 1995.

[3]. ASTM F-2547-06, Standard TestMethod for Determining the Attenua-tion Properties in a Primary X-rayBeam of Materials Used to ProtectAgainst Radiation Generated Duringthe Use of X-ray Equipment. ASTMAnnual Book of Standards, Section 11,Volume 11.03, 2006.

[4]. ASTM STPs, 900 (1986), 989 (1988),1037 (1989), 1133 (1992), 1237(1996), 1386 (2000), ASTM Interna-tional, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, P.O.Box C 700 West Conshohocken, PA19428-2959.ent and standardization, J. Chem. Health

Four decades of protective clothing development and standardization