Three types of protective clothing, Product ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘C’, were tested for breakthrough time against eight industrial chemicals. Random triplicate samples of the protective clothing material and garment seams were exposed to the challenge chemicals under ‘new’ and ‘field’ conditions . Breakthrough of the challenge chemicals was indicated by a change in pH of distilled water, the collecting medium. Mean and normalized breakthrough times were calculated. Product ‘A’ , was found to provide inadequate end user protection against 88% of the challenge chemicals, while Product ‘B’ provided adequate protection against 63% of the same chemicals. Garments constructed of Product ‘C’ were found to provide excellent protection for an end user against all chemicals used in the study. In conclusion , consideration of both material and seam breakthrough times are of importance when selecting protective clothing to be used in the work environment.
Keywords: breakthrough time, protective clothing, permeation, PH,
worker exposure