 |
The Protective
capacity of textile materials is critical for many reasons. From
the need to protect firefighters
from heat and flame,
to the protection from potentially toxic chemicals, to the need
to protect medical personnel from the threat of blood-borne pathogens,
T-PACC has an unprecedented ability to study how a material provides
protection under these hazardous conditions.
Thermal
Protection
Employees in hazardous occupations such as firefighters,
welders, molten metal workers, astronauts, race-car drivers,
and those working in an environment conducive to spontaneous
combustion,
may be required to wear clothing constructed from protective materials. The
garments worn should provide adequate protection to assist in the reduction of
burn injury resulting from external threats of flame and intense heat. The
level of protection provided can be assessed though laboratory testing
techniques. |
|
Listed
below are a few of the tests that TPACC uses to assess the burn
protection. These
tests range from bench top tests on fabric swatches to full-scale
assessment of garment performance using and instrumented manikin.
Biological
Protection
With an increasing population of infected individuals with HIV, HBV and other
blood-borne pathogens it becomes increasingly important to protect health
care workers and patients from possible infection. To prevent infections
a garment, acting as a barrier,can be used
to keep infected blood from reaching the health care worker or
patient. |
|
T-PACC has the ability to evaluate these barriers with several testing methods. T-PACC
can challenge the barrier with many different types of liquids including a
viral assay solution that contains over 2 million viruses per ml. Barrier
can also be subjected to either hydrostatic pressure or mechanical pressure. Listed
below are a few biological test that T-PACC can do for you:
Chemical protection is becoming increasing important
for the military and for industrial workers. With some
foreign powers still developing chemical warfare agents such
as mustard
gas, it becomes essential for our troop to be equipped with state
of the art protective clothing that will keep them in complete
isolation from deadly chemicals.
Some industrial workers deal with toxic chemical on a daily basis. These
chemicals may not pose an immediate threat to the worker but prolonged exposures
could cause cancer. Other chemicals could cause serious burns or damage
to the skin or they may just be an irritant. Never the less it is important
to provide adequate protection to those who are exposed to any type of chemical
that can cause workers discomfort or harm.
Within the Thermal Protection and Comfort Center we can evaluate the types
of garments the military would use in chemical war combat with an apparatus
that can measure the amount of gas that diffused through a fabric. We
can evaluate the materials used to protect workers from chemicals found in
the workplace by testing the liquid repellency of the material. Listed
below are a few of the tests T-PACC can provide.
Visual
penetration of a liquid chemical substance (ASTM F903)*
Particulate Protection
Protection of the environment from the employee
is important in some production environments. Employees are
required to wear clothing designed to act as a barrier to particles,
such as dust, flaking skin, hair, and fibers from other garments
the worker may be wearing. These particles, when suspended
in a gaseous medium, are referred to as aerosols. Other aerosols
include smog, mist, fog, and smoke, to name a few. The particulate
filtration efficiency of these garment's fabrics can be evaluated
using the following established test methods:
Particulate Protection
|
 |
|
|
