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Decontamination of chemical protective clothing.

Berardinelli-SP; Bender-TR

Exogenous dermatoses: environmental dermatitis. Menne T, Maibach HI, eds. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1990 Nov; :423-426

00237675

Chemical protective clothing (CPC) may come in contact with harmful chemical agents, and surface contamination may result in internal contamination. The doffing procedure requires that the surface of the CPC be decontaminated, while reuse of CPC requires internal decontamination. A decontamination agent must be one in which the contaminants are soluble, must cause no permanent physical damage to the CPC itself, must have low toxicity, be cost effective, have low flammability, and be stable. Surface decontamination using soaps and detergents may be used to remove low viscosity liquids or powders. The degree to which internal decontamination is required will be determined by the degree to which internal contamination has occurred. Organic solvents must permeate the CPC material to dissolve, then remove, other permeants. Therefore surface washing with organic solvents is usually counterproductive. Hot air drying to remove internal permeants may be effective for contaminants with moderate or high vapor pressure. The work zone concept may be used to contain or limit contamination. The most frequent recommendation has been to have CPCs which can be used once and then discarded.

Personal-protective-equipment; Protective-clothing; Toxic-materials; Hazardous-materials; Chemical-cleaning; Protective-materials; Organic-solvents

19901121

Book or book chapter

Menne-T; Maibach-HI

1991

9780849359699

Exogenous dermatoses: environmental dermatitis