Research, Testing and Analysis on the Decontamination of Firefighting Protective Clothing and Equipment

Résumé du livre

Firefighters are routinely exposed to thermal, chemical, biological, and physical hazards. The risk of exposure to thermal and physical hazards is limited to the fireground; however, the potential for exposure to chemical and biological hazards continues until contaminated clothing has been effectively decontaminated. This study characterized clothing contamination levels in retired firefighter turnout gear and evaluated the effectiveness of current laundering practices in decontaminating this protective clothing under a variety of circumstances. The study also addressed the effects of multiple cleanings on selected firefighter protective clothing properties. This research was conducted in two parts. The original work in this study was performed under Contract No. EMW-92-C-3987 completed in 1996. A number of significant findings resulted from this original research; however, there were additional questions raised by this study and a series of recommendations for follow-on work. The subject contract involved a series of investigations supplementing the original research and the consolidation of all findings into a comprehensive report on the subject of firefighter protective clothing contamination and decontamination. Retired turnout coats, destructively evaluated using solvent extraction and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry for organic chemicals and digestion with atomic absorption for inorganic chemicals, showed a variety of hazardous chemical contaminants, some of which were present at relatively high concentrations. Several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, known to be carcinogenic, were found in the used clothing. The relative effectiveness of seven laundering techniques for removing chemical contaminants was determined against five materials using a technique to reproducibly contaminate and evaluate contaminant levels with six target chemicals. Under these test conditions, dry cleaning was found to be the most efficient process for removing target contaminants; however, dry cleaning is currently not an acceptable process because of its effects on the clothing. There were no large differences in the decontamination efficiency among conventional laundering techniques, but subsequent forced air circulation (or aeration) greatly improved their effectiveness in removing additional contamination. Additional research showed forced air circulation to provide benefits for removing some chemical substances from contaminated clothing. Similar investigations were carried out for the removal of visible blood and inactivation of microorganisms. This study showed varied effectiveness for blood removal based on the material more than the cleaning technique. Testing for removal of microorganisms confirmed higher wash temperatures as more effective. The effects of several cycles of laundering procedures on clothing and material performance properties were evaluated. The most significant changes were noted for the barrier properties of the moisture barrier seams (for one material) and the water absorption resistance of the outer shell materials. Work from this study contributed to end user guidelines being developed by the NFPA for standardizing cleaning and decontamination of structural fire fighting protective clothing.