Resistance of clothing materials to biological liquids

Methods to determine chemical resistance of clothing materials have been established by ASTM Committee F23 on Protective Clothing and are widely used, but biological resistant test methods have yet to be standardized. Because of the increased awareness and attention in the health care profession to diseases transmitted in biological liquids containing blood-borne pathogens, there evolved a need to develop performance standards for clothing used to protect against biological liquid penetration. This paper will present the results of a study using ASTM, Method F903-87 for determining resistance of protective clothing materials to penetration by liquids. Challenge biological liquids, human blood and biological culture media containing HIV virus were used to determine the resistance of selected glove and suit materials to liquid penetration. The results show that the method was reproducible and capable of determining biological liquid resistance of clothing to both blood and HIV virus.

Duke Scholars

Author David Charles Montefiori Surgery, Surgical Sciences