Collection: Safety Clothing for protection against Infective Agents (EN 14126)

EN 14126 is the standard for clothing used for protection against infective pathogens such as bacteria and virus. This standard is critical for assessment of garments used in medical crisis such as the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the emergence of coronaviruses from Asia.

It is important to understand that EN 14126 contains four tests to assess the resistance of garment fabric to penetration of agents containing contaminants such as blood and body fluids. Each test measures a different type of possible transmission. The tests a listed in the table below:-

A common error is for manufacturers to list a classification for ISO 16603. This is evidently wrong – the standard states this clearly:-
“The synthetic blood test (ISO 16603) is used for screening purposes, i.e. to predict the level where a strikethrough can be expected when performing the bacteriophage test9ISO 16604”
Manufacturers should not use any classification based on an ISO 16603 test and users should not accept any classification of ISO 16603 tests as any indication of a protection level.
More information about EN 14126 certification can be found in our fact sheet available here.

MicroMax TS and ChemMax 1 to 3 fabrics all achieve the highest classes for tests listed in EN 14126