Protective Clothing Levels

Other Wear full protective clothing (Level A) consisting of M3 butyl... 

Wear full protective clothing (Level A) consisting of M3 butyl mbber suit with hood, M2A1 boots, M3 gloves, impregnated underwear, M9 series mask and coveralls (if desired), or the 30 mil DPE if available, or NIOSH-approved equivalent wear... 

Testing Requirements of Peroxidizable Compounds Tests for the Presence of Peroxides Characteristics of Chemical-Resistant Materials Selection of Protective Laboratory Garments Protective Clothing Levels Selection of Laboratory Gloves Selection of Respirator Cartridges and Filters Effects of Electrical Current on the Human Body Electrical Requirements of Common Laboratory Devices... 

Personnel who must work in areas in which tritium contamination exceeds permitted levels are safeguarded by protective clothing, such as ventilated plastic suits. Detailed descriptions of laboratories suitable for manipulation of tritium can be found in Reference 9. 

Permeation is the process by which a hazardous chemical moves through a protective clothing materials on a molecular level. No pinholes or other flaws are involved in dlowing the chemical to reach the other side of the materld. The process consists of ... 

Forkdift drivers need to be skilled, experienced, and safetyconscious, since the misplacement of a pallet on a high stack can present a serious hazard. They work in well-insulated protective clothing and in short spells within a shift if the room is much below 0°C. Fork-lift trucks are available with enclosed, heated driver s cabs. Extra staff are required if the traffic is constant. Targe stores will have a wide loading platform outside at floor level to permit fork-lift trucks to manoeuvre their loads onto vehicles. 

Nevertheless, professional industrial hygienists are called upon routinely to select protective clothing that will provide an adequate, if not absolute, level of protection, even when permeation data are not available for a specific chemical/polymer combination. Their task is formidable. It is also a task that can be performed more easily with the assistance of an expert system. 

The optimum wavelength for UV sterilization is around 260 nm. A suitable source for UV light in this region is a mercury lamp giving peak emission levels at 254 nm. These sources are generally wall- or ceiling-mounted for air disinfection, or fixed to vessels for water treatment. Operators present in an irradiated room should wear appropriate protective clothing and eye shields. 

The TDX values were much lower than the TUDX values, indicating that the protective clothing provides a substantial reduction in the amount of residues reaching the skin of the operator. The same operators who had higher overall exposure had higher actual exposure. The frequent occurrence of nondetectable residues is notable and indicates that some operators were able to keep exposure to levels at or near the limit of detection. The low respiratory exposure (REX) confirms the validity of the assumption that airborne exposure would be a minor route of exposure. (See Table 3.)... 

High TUDX values were correlated with high TDX values, which in turn represented a dominant influence on the safety factors. Four of the 15 operators had much higher exposure than the others, and four operators had low exposure, with either no detectable exposure within the protective clothing (trials 5 and 9) or only trace levels below the stated limit of detection (trials 5 and 10). The results for the remaining operators were clustered in the mid-range. 

Exposure control Use engineering/technical means, e.g. Low-level filling bowls Suction probes Closed handling systems Soluble packs In-cab electronic sprayer controls Hydraulic boom-folding (These measures should be used in preference to protective clothing)... 

Use only chemical protective clothing that has undergone material and construction performance testing against carbon monoxide and metal carbonyls. If the concentration of vapor exceeds the level necessary to produce effects through dermal exposure, then responders should wear a Level A protective ensemble. 

Mild skin irritation has been reported by workers at a munitions factory who were exposed to low levels of hexachloroethane. The workers were wearing protective clothing that greatly reduced exposure. No other information is available concerning health effects in people exposed to hexachloroethane. However, results of animal studies can be used to show how it can affect your health. Based on the animal data, hexachloroethane in the air can irritate your nose and lungs and cause some buildup of mucus in your nose, much like an allergy. It can also irritate your eyes and make them... 

Hematological Effects. Routine blood parameters (hemoglobin, erythrocyte, leukocyte and thrombocyte levels) measured in 11 hexachloroethane workers that wore protective clothing did not differ from those of the controls (Selden et al. 1994). Mild skin and mucous membrane irritation were reported in the exposed group, suggesting that exposure may have been through either the inhalation or dermal routes of exposure. 

Despite wearing protective equipment that included disposable overalls and compressed-air-fed visors or full-facepiece masks with filters for dusts and vapors, hexachloroethane was detected in the plasma of exposed workers (Selden et al. 1993). After 5 weeks of exposure, plasma levels of hexachloroethane in 12 workers were 7.3 + 6 pg/L. Mild dermal irritation was also noted. If the skin irritation was a response to hexachloroethane rather than trauma from the protective clothing, the irritation suggests that the principal exposure route may have been dermal. Absorption of a saturated hexachloroethane solution across human skin was estimated to be 0.0230 mg/cm2/hour based on the physical properties of hexachloroethane (Fiserova-Bergerova et al. 1990). 

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