Performance Evaluation of 26 Combinations of Chemical Protective Clothing Materials and Chemicals After Repeated Exposures and Decontaminations

Abstract

Effective decontamination of chemical protective clothing (CPC) is essential for reducing occupational skin diseases and disorders during a reuse scenario. To protect the workforce, the efficacy of decontamination methods and the reusability of CPC need to be evaluated. In this study, performance of 14 CPC materials against 12 liquid chemicals was evaluated based on standardized breakthrough time (BT) and steady-state permeation rate (SSPR). Thermal and water-detergent decontamination methods were used. Exposure/decon- tamination was repeated up to 11 cycles, or until the material failed, so that further testing became impossible. Changes in BT and SSPRs were determined for each material and chemical combination. There were 20 and 13 combinations that were able to complete 11 cycles with thermal and detergent methods, respectively. By comparing the beginning and ending cycles, mean BT increased 9% with the thermal method but slightly decreased (3.3%) with the detergent method, while mean SSPR decreased 2% with the thermal method, but slightly increased (1.4%) with the detergent method. Less than half of the changes were found statistically different (p < 0.05). Generally, the thermal method had higher decontamination efficacy than the detergent method.

Keywords:

• breakthrough time
• chemical protective clothing
• decontamination
• permeation testing
• reusability
• steady-state permeation rate

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank our former colleague Douglas Landsittel at NIOSH for his helpful discussions on data analysis; Michael Gergel and Rob Patnaik at ICS Laboratories, Inc., Brunswick, Ohio, for conducting experiments; and Nadia Ayouby, Evanly Vo, William King, Angie Shepherd, and Ron Shaffer for their review of the manuscript and suggestions.

The findings and conclusions of this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.