Micro-environment inside disposable medical protective clothing and its improvement

Zitian Zhang, Zhongjian Jia, Zhengtao Ai*, Gabriel Bekӧ, Dong Xie, Min Tu

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Disposable medical protective clothing (DMPC) can cause severe discomfort and even safety problems to wearers, especially during summertime in warm climates. This study investigated the micro-environment (air temperature (TDMPC) and relative humidity (RHDMPC)) in the space between the DMPC and the body, as well as the physiological and subjective sensations of wearers under typical conditions in a controlled climate chamber. Three types of clothes drying and cooling (CDC) techniques, including desiccant (CDC1), phase change material (CDC2), and the combination of both (CDC3), were then evaluated. Under typical conditions in hot and humid regions (30 °C, 70 %), TDMPC stabilized at about 33.5 °C in 40 min and RHDMPC stabilized in the range of 85–100 % after 80 min. When the ambient air temperature increased to 36 °C, the TDMPC increased to about 36.5 °C during activities such as sitting and standing-talking, while the forehead temperature of DMPC wearers reached 38.0 °C in 40–60 min and continued to rise. It implies that 40 min should be the maximum recommended working period for DMPC wearers at such ambient temperature and activity level. The proposed CDC3 reduced TDMPC by 1.2–1.8 °C during the experiment. The use of CDC3 effectively reduced the participants' thermal sensation vote from “2” or “3” (“hot” or “very hot”) to below “1” (warm) and the sweating sensation vote from “3” or “4” (“slight sweat” to “skin became clammy”) to below “2” (“no sweat but sticky skin”) under low and moderate activity levels.
Original languageEnglish
Article number111641
JournalBuilding and Environment
Volume258
Number of pages16
ISSN0360-1323
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Keywords

  • Micro-environment
  • Personal protective equipment
  • Occupational health
  • Thermal comfort

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