August 17, 2006 — /IEST/ — ROLLING MEADOWS, IL — The Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST) announces that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published ISO 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 International Standard 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 cleanrooms 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 for use in a wide range of industries that may be adversely affected by AMC, such as aerospace, microelectronics, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, food, and healthcare.
ISO 14644-8 covers the classification of 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.
More information is available online at www.iest.org or by calling IEST at (847) 255-1561.
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Founded in 1953, IEST is an international not-for-profit 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; Administrator of the ANSI-accredited US TAG to ISO/TC 142 Cleaning equipment for air and other gases; and a founding member of the ANSI-accredited US TAG to ISO/TC 229 Nanotechnologies.