PermaSURE® V4 – the first available Whole Suit Safe-Wear Time Modeler – is here.

Current methods of selection and assessment of chemical protective clothing focus on the Permeation Test “Breakthrough”. For several reasons this is misplaced. Not only is the test widely and dangerously misunderstood, because it focusses on the possibility of tiny volumes of a chemical passing through the fabric at a molecular level, it ignores the much greater risk, the possibility that larger volumes will pass through the suits’ construction. Poorly constructed seams, an unsealed zipper, or gaps between the chemical suit and other PPE worn are more likely routes of ingress inside the garment. So, a focus on the fabric permeation resistance test can mean this greater risk is ignored. And, unless you are wearing a fully-encapsulating suit, some penetration via these routes – especially of vapourised chemical – is almost inevitable.

PermaSURE® V4 address these problems. Using an advanced molecular modeler it calculates not only permeation of chemical through the fabric, but also it assesses, using independently tested Inward Leakage Protection Factors and based on the whole suit design and how it is worn, penetration of liquid and vapourised chemical through any gaps in the construction and whole suit ensemble.

Then, using a database of known toxicological data on over 2,400 chemicals, it calculates how long until the Total Inward Leakage may reach the point where health effects – either temporary or permanent – might occur.

In other words, PermaSURE V4 represents the first available, science and data-driven, whole chemical suit ensemble Safe-Wear Time assessment for users of chemical suits. In short, it tells you exactly how long a chemical suit is safe to wear to protect against a specific chemical.

PermaSURE V4 works with Lakeland chemical suits ChemMax® 3, ChemMax 4 Plus and Interceptor Plus. It is free to download and use.

For more information contact [email protected]