Permeation measurements of chemical agent simulants through protective clothing materials

Abstract Effective procedures associated with storage and disposal of chemical warfare (CW) agents are important for the protection of civilian populations from inadvertent release of these agents. Emergency groups as well as citizens in surrounding communities need to know the relative effectiveness of various chemical protective clothing (CPC) ensembles in the unlikely event of such releases. A method has been developed for studying permeation of chemical warfare agent simulants through CPC materials. The experimental results characterize some commercially available CPC materials. Thirteen different CPC materials having widely differing compositions were chosen to study the permeation of four different liquid CW simulants (dimethyl methyl phosphonate, diisopropyl methyl phosphonate, malathion, and dibutyl sulfide) through these CPC materials at 25 °C. This permeation study involved a newly developed analytical technique employing room temperature fluorescence quenching of an indicator compound, phenanthrene, on filter paper. Various experimental factors such as breakthrough time, rate of permeation and uptake were investigated. On the basis of breakthrough time, the 13 CPC materials could be divided into three groups: most resistant, moderately resistant, and least resistant. Materials in the most resistant category exhibited no permeation by any of the simulants for at least 24 hours. Breakthrough occurred in the least resistant materials in generally less than an hour, and sometimes as soon as a few minutes.