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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Investigation of the effect of laundering the ground crew chemical defense overgarment on toxic-free-area vapor transfer during shelter entry by initially contaminated personnel. Interim report, Oct 87-Jan 88

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5332836
A study by the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, Brooks AFB, Texas, has compared the shelter processing transfer of chemical warfare agent simulant vapor for subjects wearing unwashed and laundered ground-crew chemical defense overgarments. Twice laundered and four times laundered protective garments were included in the assessment. Test subjects, wearing the unwashed and laundered protective garments were initially sprayed with liquid simulant (methyl salicylate) to a target density of 5 g m-2. They were then sequentially processed into and through the USAFSAM Collective Protection Shelter (SCPS-2B) test facility. Immediately upon entry to the Toxic-Free Area, the subjects were confined in individual off gassing booths for 2 h while offgassed simulant vapor concentration in the booths was recorded. The resulting mean maximum vapor concentrations recorded in the booths for subjects who had worn unwashed and laundered overgarments prior to booth entry were not statistically different at the .05 significance level. However, the 4-times laundered garment subjects (3 out of 4 subjects) showed an average 40% increase in booth vapor concentration compared with subjects wearing unwashed garments.
Research Organization:
Krug Life Sciences, San Antonio, TX (United States)
OSTI ID:
5332836
Report Number(s):
AD-A-234714/4/XAB; CNN: F33615-85-C-4503
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English