February 10, 2006 — /IEST/ — ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill. — The Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST) announces that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has released ISO/FDIS 14644-8, Cleanrooms and associated controlled environments – Part 8: Classification of airborne molecular contamination. IEST serves as Secretariat for ISO Technical Committee 209, which developed the Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) as part of a series of documents to serve the needs of the global contamination control community.
Now available from IEST, the new document assigns ISO classification levels to specify the limits of airborne molecular contamination (AMC) concentrations within a cleanroom and associated controlled environments where the product or process is deemed to be at risk from such contamination. The international standard is generic and designed to be used by a wide range of industries within which AMCs have a harmful effect. The document is in balloting by voting nations, and if approved may be issued as a formal ISO Standard later this year. Balloting ends April 2, 2006.
ISO/FDIS 14644-8 defines AMC in terms of specific chemical species (individual, group, or category) and considers concentrations of AMC between 100 and 10-12 g/m3 under cleanroom operational conditions. The document provides a protocol to include test methods, analysis, and time weighted factors within the specification for classification. Topics covered in the informative annexes include parameters for consideration, typical contaminating chemicals and substances, typical methods of measurement and analysis, and considerations of specific requirements for separative enclosures.
Founded in 1953, IEST is an international technical society of engineers, scientists, and educators that serves its members and the industries they represent (simulating, testing, controlling, and teaching the environments of earth and space) through education and the development of recommended practices and standards.
IEST is an ANSI-accredited standards-developing organization; Secretariat of ISO/TC 209 Cleanrooms and associated controlled environments; Administrator of the ANSI-accredited US TAG to ISO/TC 209; and a founding member of the ANSI-accredited US TAG to ISO/TC 229 Nanotechnologies.
More information is available online at http://www.iest.org or by calling IEST at (847) 255-1561.