The Protective Performance of Process Operators’ Protective Clothing and Exposure Limits under Low Thermal Radiation Conditions
During the early stage of a fire, a process operator often acts as the first responder and may be exposed to high heat radiation levels. The present limit values of long- (>15 min) and short-term exposure (<5 min), 1.0 and 1.5 kW/m<sup>2</sup>, respectively, have been set using phy...
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MDPI AG
2022-08-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/8/1222 |
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| author | Ronald Heus Boris R. M. Kingma Birgit M. A. van Berlo Douwe Mol Hein A. M. Daanen Kalev Kuklane |
| author_facet | Ronald Heus Boris R. M. Kingma Birgit M. A. van Berlo Douwe Mol Hein A. M. Daanen Kalev Kuklane |
| author_sort | Ronald Heus |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | During the early stage of a fire, a process operator often acts as the first responder and may be exposed to high heat radiation levels. The present limit values of long- (>15 min) and short-term exposure (<5 min), 1.0 and 1.5 kW/m<sup>2</sup>, respectively, have been set using physiological models and manikin measurements. Since human validation is essentially lacking, this study investigated whether operators’ protective clothing offers sufficient protection during a short-term deployment. Twelve professional firefighters were exposed to three radiation levels (1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 kW/m<sup>2</sup>) when wearing certified protective clothing in front of a heat radiation panel in a climatic chamber (20 °C; 50% RH). The participants wore only briefs (male) or panties and a bra (female) and a T-shirt under the operators’ clothing. Skin temperatures were continuously measured at the chest, belly, forearm, thigh, and knee. The test persons had to stop if any skin temperature reached 43 °C, at their own request, or when 5 min of exposure was reached. The experiments showed that people in operators’ clothing can be safely exposed for 5 min to 1.5 kW/m<sup>2</sup>, up to 3 min to 2.0 kW/m<sup>2</sup>, and exposure to 2.5 kW/m<sup>2</sup> or above must be avoided unless the clothing can maintain an air gap. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T10:00:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-eee692c89adc4c64ab9e49bf73ee26d5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-7737 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T10:00:56Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-eee692c89adc4c64ab9e49bf73ee26d52023-12-01T23:26:32ZengMDPI AGBiology2079-77372022-08-01118122210.3390/biology11081222The Protective Performance of Process Operators’ Protective Clothing and Exposure Limits under Low Thermal Radiation ConditionsRonald Heus0Boris R. M. Kingma1Birgit M. A. van Berlo2Douwe Mol3Hein A. M. Daanen4Kalev Kuklane5Netherlands Academy of Crisis Management and Fire Service Science, Team Fire Service Science, Netherlands Institute for Public Safety, Zilverstraat 91, 2718 RP Zoetermeer, The NetherlandsHuman Performance Department, Unit Defence, Safety and Security, Netherlands Institute for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Kampweg 5, 3769 DE Soesterberg, The NetherlandsDepartment of Human Movement Sciences, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 9, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The NetherlandsHuman Performance Department, Unit Defence, Safety and Security, Netherlands Institute for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Kampweg 5, 3769 DE Soesterberg, The NetherlandsDepartment of Human Movement Sciences, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 9, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The NetherlandsNetherlands Academy of Crisis Management and Fire Service Science, Team Fire Service Science, Netherlands Institute for Public Safety, Zilverstraat 91, 2718 RP Zoetermeer, The NetherlandsDuring the early stage of a fire, a process operator often acts as the first responder and may be exposed to high heat radiation levels. The present limit values of long- (>15 min) and short-term exposure (<5 min), 1.0 and 1.5 kW/m<sup>2</sup>, respectively, have been set using physiological models and manikin measurements. Since human validation is essentially lacking, this study investigated whether operators’ protective clothing offers sufficient protection during a short-term deployment. Twelve professional firefighters were exposed to three radiation levels (1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 kW/m<sup>2</sup>) when wearing certified protective clothing in front of a heat radiation panel in a climatic chamber (20 °C; 50% RH). The participants wore only briefs (male) or panties and a bra (female) and a T-shirt under the operators’ clothing. Skin temperatures were continuously measured at the chest, belly, forearm, thigh, and knee. The test persons had to stop if any skin temperature reached 43 °C, at their own request, or when 5 min of exposure was reached. The experiments showed that people in operators’ clothing can be safely exposed for 5 min to 1.5 kW/m<sup>2</sup>, up to 3 min to 2.0 kW/m<sup>2</sup>, and exposure to 2.5 kW/m<sup>2</sup> or above must be avoided unless the clothing can maintain an air gap.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/8/1222protective clothingprocess operatorIR radiationair gapthermal protective performanceheat |
| spellingShingle | Ronald Heus Boris R. M. Kingma Birgit M. A. van Berlo Douwe Mol Hein A. M. Daanen Kalev Kuklane The Protective Performance of Process Operators’ Protective Clothing and Exposure Limits under Low Thermal Radiation Conditions Biology protective clothing process operator IR radiation air gap thermal protective performance heat |
| title | The Protective Performance of Process Operators’ Protective Clothing and Exposure Limits under Low Thermal Radiation Conditions |
| title_full | The Protective Performance of Process Operators’ Protective Clothing and Exposure Limits under Low Thermal Radiation Conditions |
| title_fullStr | The Protective Performance of Process Operators’ Protective Clothing and Exposure Limits under Low Thermal Radiation Conditions |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Protective Performance of Process Operators’ Protective Clothing and Exposure Limits under Low Thermal Radiation Conditions |
| title_short | The Protective Performance of Process Operators’ Protective Clothing and Exposure Limits under Low Thermal Radiation Conditions |
| title_sort | protective performance of process operators protective clothing and exposure limits under low thermal radiation conditions |
| topic | protective clothing process operator IR radiation air gap thermal protective performance heat |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/8/1222 |
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