Abstract

Biological and chemical warfare is a constant threat to the world. So the Chemical and biological (CB) protective clothing has been advanced over the years to provide protection to the war fighters facing the treats of CB warfare agents. This threat remains an active concern because of relative ease with which such weapons can be acquired, at least on a small scale. Furthermore, the increasing concern over terrorism means the threat is not limited to the military but is also concerned in the civilian sectors chemicals, The Tokyo subway incident of 1995 involving Sarin nerve agent brought this reality home to the Japanese and the rest of the world. In addition to traditional military chemicals, there are concerns with regard to toxic industrial chemicals. It is therefore necessary to ensure that the Civilian emergency responders such as police, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians are provided with appropriate CB clothing.

Introduction

A number of countries around the world have the capability to use chemical weapons. In fact, within the past decade, several events have been well documented where chemical weapons were used in armed conflict, most notably during the Iran-Iraq War. The major application of protective clothing is for protecting the soldiers from the war field hazards. One such important hazard is chemical hazard which affects the human based on its characteristics and mode of entry. To overcome this problem we normally use chemical protective clothing and their property depends on the end use. The routes of chemical entry into the human body are oral, respiratory, and dermal. Of these three main routes, the dermal exposure is considered the primary mechanism of chemical entry through human body. While considering the entry of chemical through respiration to prevent this it is essential to consider the respiratory mask as an essential part of chemical protective clothing. It has been reported that 90% of all occupational allergic contact dermatitis was found on the back of the hands and the fore arms. However contact dermatitis among homemakers occurred in almost 50% of the cases on the palms. Whereas 15% of the time it affected the back of hands and fingers.

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The authors are associated with Bannari Amman Institute of Technology