4 - Design of a military protective suit against biological agents

Abstract

The threat of bioterrorism is a growing concern worldwide. Thereby, there is a need for appropriate physical protection in the event of biohazard. This article reviews design features of a military suit for protection against biological warfare agents (BWAs) with an emphasis for suit construction and barrier properties using textile fiber, yarn, and fabric structures. Insights into protective textile substrates enable military product developers to augment the comfort and safety features of a military bio-suit against, for example, Ebola virus, Q fever, anthrax, plague, and other dangerous microorganisms. Developing an understanding of the mode of interactions between BWAs and textiles is critical. A layer-by-layer in-depth study is conducted to propose a configuration of a military bio-suit that takes into account the different functions associated with the application: barrier against BWAs, self-detoxification, comfort, and camouflage. We developed simple theoretical models based on differential equations for analyzing the contamination growth on military clothing and estimating the biocidal lifetime of a self-detoxifying selectively permeable membrane (SPM). These models are rather crude descriptions and should be further refined in future works. However, they can already provide insights into the design of military suits for protection against BWAs using SPMs. Finally, this chapter explores new emerging technologies for military bio-suit applications.