Impact of surface tension on the barrier performance of gowns and coveralls

Background: Health care workers and laboratory workers who are routinely exposed to potentially lifethreatening infectious diseases should wear protective clothing when anticipating contact with infectious materials. The most critical property of protective clothing is its ability to prevent liquids and viruses from passing through the garment. There are a number of potentially infectious liquids that workers may be exposed to during routine tasks. Each liquid has different physical and chemical properties that affect penetration. However, the current test methods use a limited number of liquids for classifying the barrier performance. The impact of the surface tension of the challenge liquid on the penetration resistance of gowns and coveralls was investigated in this study. Methods: Eight isolation gowns and 2 coveralls were tested in accordance with American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists 42 and American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists 127 test methods, which were modified to incorporate the substitute challenge liquids. Results: Although current standard test methods only use water to categorize the liquid penetration resistance of minimal to moderate barrier performance gowns, a significant difference in the penetration was found when simulated body fluids were used. Conclusions: The results suggest that safety professionals and wearers should consider the varying barrier performance of personal protective equipment with different liquids and the use limitations when selecting them for the required tasks. Furthermore, standard development organizations should consider multiple challenge liquids when classifying protective clothing for health care settings. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. All rights reserved.