Micro-environment inside disposable medical protective clothing and its improvement

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 minutes and RHDMPC stabilized in the range of 85-100% after 80 minutes. 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 minutes and continued to rise. It implies that 40 minutes 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.