1. Scope

Keywords

Rationale

Permeation testing data analysis for chemical protective clothing has been performed in different manners. It is found that the differences in hand calculation values for the permeation parameters could be up to 30 % or more, resulting in incomparable results provided by different manufacturers or laboratories. Furthermore, the data analysis involves a number of equations and experimental factors. Although Test Method F 739, Practice D 6879, and ISO 6529 request calculating various breakthrough times, they provide no information on how to calculate. However, accurate calculation of the standardized breakthrough time for a closed loop test requires the use of polynomial curve fitting, polynomial derivatives, and quadratic equation solving, which are labor intensive and mathematically complex without a computer program. Calculation of the cumulative permeation at a given elapsed time requires integrating the area under the permeation curve with respect to any arbitrary time interval.