Issue

Valves for the food and beverage, cosmetics, biotechnology and pharmaceutical, and semiconductor industries are classified in three levels of cleanliness: sanitary, aseptic, and ultra-high purity.

The obvious objective in effective cleaning is the removal of contamination acquired from daily activities in the cleanroom.

I had some very interesting conversations at this year’s “SEMICON West” conference and exhibition in San Francisco.

The publication in July 2007 of a new International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Standard, ISO 14644-6 Cleanrooms and associated controlled environments-Part 6: Vocabulary, represented a milestone for ISO Technical Committee (TC) 209. With the new standard, TC 209 fulfilled its original goal to create a series of 10 standards to meet the needs of the global cleanroom industry in a new millennium.

Beginning about 35 years ago, manufacturers began to recognize that to achieve greater productivity, they would need faster, more ef
?? cient internal factory transportation and logistics systems.

It’s no secret that biopharmaceutical companies are moving rapidly toward disposable products for the production of protein therapeutics and vaccines.

From pharmaceuticals to semiconductors, cleanrooms are highly regulated environments. Under the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) strict criteria put forth in 2001, manufacturers across the board have fallen under a great amount of pressure to keep cleanrooms clean and have been forced to evaluate and improve their housekeeping regimens.

New technologies, chemistries and value-adds notwithstanding, cleanroom consumables are driven by two tenets for suppliers and users alike: They have to function properly and consistently, and they have to do so cost-effectively.

Each month, Cleanrooms brings you a collection of the latest product innovations in the contamination control industry.

Since human-generated contamination plays a large role in critical environments, special care must be taken to provide appropriate garments to minimize the human impact on the cleanroom.

The Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST) continues to offer valuable online education classes in the ongoing Access the Experts series with its one-hour class, “Sustainability Considerations in Cleanroom Design and Operation,” and two-part online education tutorial, “Healthcare Airborne Molecular Contamination,” both to be presented in September.

News snippets from the world of contamination control.

Despite the high technology, the semiconductor industry is conservative, preferring to stick to what is known and works rather than trying something new-unless, of course, there’s no alternative.

University researchers working to optimize airflow patterns in commercial airplane cabins have uncovered new ways of containing the spread of toxic and infectious agents in these environments, and have taken the first steps toward development of a contaminant alert and detection system that can pinpoint the source to an individual passenger.

Philip E. Nelson, past president of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) and food science professor at Purdue University, has been recognized as the 2007 recipient of the World Food Prize in an announcement from the U.S. Department of State.