Personal Protective Technology Program
The Personal Protective Technology (PPT) Program is a world leader in keeping American workers safe through PPT research, standards development, respirator conformity assessment, public outreach, and information dissemination. Personal Protective Technologies include respirators, protective clothing, gloves, eye, fall and hearing protection, hard hats, and sensors to detect hazardous substances.
Permeation Calculator
NIOSH Publication No. 2007-143c (Version 2.4.1)
Chemical protective clothing is widely used to protect skin from hazards found in the workplace. It is also available for use during a terrorist attack. Data analysis for chemical protective clothing permeation testing involves a number of equations and experimental factors. Possible calculation errors are critical issues when determining permeation parameters. Additionally, the calculations of some of the permeation parameters are mathematically complex, which are difficult or time-consuming to be accurately calculated without a computer program.
The Permeation Calculator Version 2.4.1 calculates all of the permeation parameters listed in ASTM test method F739, ISO 6529, and ASTM Practice D6978, including standardized breakthrough time, normalized breakthrough detection time, breakthrough detection time, minimum breakthrough detection time (if applicable), steady-state permeation rate, cumulative permeation at a given elapsed time, elapsed time at a given cumulative permeation, average permeation rate, and maximum permeation rate if it is an open loop permeation test. It helps researchers and industrial hygienists avoid labor-intensive hand calculations of the permeation parameters. From a standardization point of view, this practice prevents variability or inconsistency caused by different experimenters thus ensuring identical permeation parameters or results will be obtained from a given permeation test data file. Refer to ASTM F2815 for more detailed information.
NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards
The Pocket Guide is a source of general industrial hygiene information on several hundred chemicals/classes found in the work environment. It provides respirator recommendations for certain chemicals based on the concentrations.