Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
•
Not reporting properties such as thickness, weight, and air permeabil-
ity.
•
Not identifying trademarked fabrics, referring to them rather by ge-
neric descriptions. Since no two researchers use the same generic de-
scription, persons attempting to use the literature cannot ascertain
whether, in fact, the same material was or was not tested by two re-
searchers. For example, the same fabric might be referred to as "syn-
thetic nonwoven," "nonwoven polyolefin," "nonwoven polyethyl-
ene," and "Tyvek
."
•
Not identifying trademarked fabric treatments/finishes, referring to
them rather by generic descriptions. For example, the descriptions of
the same treatment may range from "soil repellent finish" to "fluoro-
carbon" to "a 3M fluorocarbon" to " Scotchgard
."
Overall recommendations derived from the information present in the
EPA's
Guidance Manual for Selecting Protective Clothing for Agriculture
Table 6.7
Body protection considerations.
Considera-
tions
Description
1.
Long-sleeved shirts and long-legged pants are preferred to short sleeves and
short pants.
2.
For woven fabrics, heavier fabrics are better barriers than lighter fabrics. 250
g/m
2
has been suggested as a minimum.
27
3.
For fabrics of the same type and weight, higher resistance to penetration was
generally correlated with higher cotton content. The performance of 100%
polyester is usually significantly below even 35/65 cotton/polyester blends.
Although supporting data are not extensive, it seems that woven fabrics should
be preferred to knits and, within the wovens, twills to plain weave.
4.
In general, low air permeability, synthetic nonwovens and microporous PTFE
are better barriers than woven fabrics.
5.
Fluorocarbon treatment generally improves the penetration resistance of po-
rous fabrics, both woven and nonwoven, to liquids and particles. The fluoro-
carbon reduces the differences between the resistances of 100% cotton and
various cotton/polyester blends. Durable press finishes reduce penetration
resistance to liquids. Studies of soil releasing treatments are inconclusive.
Laundering reduces the effectiveness of finishes; they must be renewed peri-
odically.
6.
The highest levels of protection can only be achieved through the use of a
fabric that contains a coating or lamination of a continuous film of plastic or
rubber.
7.
Any item of clothing, to be effective, must be properly designed, constructed,
fitted, worn, and maintained.
