December 29, 2011 — The updated IEST "Garment System Considerations for Cleanrooms and Other Controlled Environments" recommended practice document includes new sections on measuring cleanroom footwear, frocks and other garments, as well as a new subsection for tracking system use, such as RFID chips and barcodes.
A new edition of IEST-RP-CC003.4, Garment System Considerations for Cleanrooms and Other Controlled Environments, includes a 20-page supplement on recommended garment measurement specifications. The supplement, Guide to Measuring Cleanroom Garments, provides illustrated instructions for measuring coveralls, frocks, hoods, and footwear.
The revised Recommended Practice (RP) is published by the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST).
Also read: ISO Cleanroom standards update
IEST-RP-CC003.4 addresses the gowning of personnel as a critical aspect of cleanroom contamination control. Specification and use of an appropriate gowning system is essential in preventing human-generated contamination from reaching and affecting product or processes in the cleanroom. The RP provides non-mandatory guidance for the selection, specification, maintenance, and testing of garments or apparel and accessories appropriate for use in non-aseptic and aseptic environments.
The RP defines required performance criteria, test methods, and procedures for gowning system use and maintenance. It also features guidelines for developing a quality control (QC) plan for the apparel and accessories that may be part of the system. This edition includes a new subsection on the use of advanced tracking systems, such as barcodes and radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips, to monitor garment service life. Also provided is a section describing types of fabrics and relevant properties and methods of testing of the materials used in cleanroom garments, as well as the design and construction of appropriate configurations and special features of such garments.
Appendix B explains the Helmke drum test method, introduced in an earlier edition of the RP and based on round-robin testing performed by the IEST Working Group. This method is used to quantify particles dislodged through the application of mechanical energy under dry conditions as a means of simulating particle shedding from the surface of the garment during use. Garments being tested are tumbled in a rotating drum to release particles from the fabric in a controlled manner, while a discrete-particle counter is used to sample the air within the drum.
Ordering information for IEST-RP-CC003.4 and other IEST publications is available at www.iest.org.
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; and a founding member of the ANSI-accredited US TAG to ISO/TC 229 Nanotechnologies.