Assessing the physiological function of protective clothing

The physiological function is a major component in assessing protective clothing: Physiologically optimised garments help to maintain the wearer's health and fitness, and prevent his early fatigue or overheating. Today the physiological function of textiles as well as of whole garment systems can be measured by a set of laboratory tests, rendering wearer trials to be unnecessary. Together with predictive calculations, it is possible to obtain the temperature range of utility of a clothing ensemble and the wear comfort or physiological strain it effects depending on climatic conditions and work load. In a recent research project, these test and evaluation techniques have been applied to particle tight protective clothing. A physiological profile of demand for this kind of barrier textiles has been determined, which makes prolonged wearing possible even in warm climate conditions. Furthermore, concrete construction and wearing guidelines (also for underwear) are given. These results have been validated by wearer trials with test subjects in a climatic chamber.