Effective Reusable Cleanroom Garments and Evaluation of Garment Life

Cleanroom garments are used to control the airborne dispersion of contamination from people into the cleanroom. The effectiveness of the garment in controlling the dispersion of contamination is a function of the fabric and design of garments, and test methods used to ascertain the effectiveness of garments are discussed in this article. These test methods can be used when choosing garments for use in a cleanroom but were used in this article to determine the deterioration of garments through use. Cleanroom garments were subjected to increasing numbers of decontamination cycles, which included sterilisation by gamma radiation, up to a maximum of 70. At defined number of decontamination cycles, the garment’s fabric was compared to a new fabric by visual examination, by a scanning electron microscope, and by physical tests of key performance parameters. It was concluded that the performance of the fabric remained acceptable up to 50 decontamination cycles. This conclusion was supported by the low dispersion rate of particles and microbe-carrying particles in a dispersal chamber from personnel wearing the garments. After 50 decontamination cycles, a low dispersion rate of 0.2/s of microbe-carrying particles from personnel wearing the garments was obtained and a 194-fold reduction in the microbial dispersion rate compared to cleanroom undergarments. Key words: cleanroom garments, garment life, contamination control