Advances in Chemical Protective Ensemble Technology

Standards development for the chemical protective suit industry began as the result of a 1983 accident in Benicia, California. A local hazmat team responded to a rail tank car leaking anhydrous dimethylamine for spill evaluation and control. During the response, one of the four hazmat team members noticed that the visor lens of his total encapsulated suit was beginning to crack. The team immediately exited the vapor cloud in the spill area, but not before the suit visor broke open and allowed the hazardous chemical to enter the suit and expose the team member to chemical. Fortunately, an SCBA protected the member’s respiratory system, but the individual still suffered severe dermatitis because of skin exposure.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) evaluated the accident and found that the visor material was incompatible with dimethylamine even though the suit manufacturer’s literature recommended the butyl rubber material used for most of the suit. Consequently, the NTSB formally recommended the development of specific minimum performance standards for chemical protective suits. In 1990, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) introduced the first comprehensive standards to address chemical protective clothing used by first responders.

Much has happened in the chemical protective clothing industry since 1983. The NFPA standards established for chemical protective suits focused the industry on specific requirements that applied to all aspects of suit design and performance. For example, when NFPA 1991, Standard on Vapor-Protective Ensembles for Hazardous Materials Emergencies, was first released, all materials used in the construction of the chemical protective suit (including the seams, visor, gloves, and footwear) had to demonstrate permeation resistance against an extensive battery of chemicals. Previously, suit recommendations were based only on the primary material used in the construction of the suit.1