How to choose anti-static clothing, disposable or reusable?
Cleanroom clothing is essential in any clean environment, whether it is a cleanroom, laboratory, food production environment or processing environment.
Cleanroom protective clothing has two basic functions:
1. Protect the operator from environmental influences.
2. Protect the product from operator contamination.
When choosing anti-static work clothes, lab coats or other forms of cleanroom clothing, many factors should be considered, and cost cannot be the only consideration.
Cost
Of course, an important advantage of disposable cleanroom clothing is the affordability of purchase cost. However, it is very important to weigh the whole life cost when making a decision. A true cost comparison should also include environmental, energy and transportation costs. Comprehensively evaluating the cost of reusable clothing is a difficult task. In order to offset the relatively high cost of washing the clothing, it may have to withstand 50 to 70 washing and disinfection processes.
This not only has significant cost implications, but also gradually reduces the wearing comfort and effectiveness of protection. The true cost of reusable clothing should also include utility costs, personnel, equipment maintenance and validation costs.
The cost of in-house dedicated washing machines, decontamination and sanitizing equipment is often prohibitive.
Health and Safety
Second, we consider health and safety issues. There is no order in which I have listed the considerations. The health and safety of anyone should be a primary consideration, especially where hazardous liquids or bacteria risks are involved. This applies not only to protecting operators in the environment they are in, but also to protecting products from contamination that could affect the health of individuals who consume the products, including drugs, pharmaceuticals, foods, or some form of medical device.
It is important to recognize that washing clothes does not completely remove contaminants. It is a scientific fact that some clothing retains residues in clothing when it is reused. Particularly difficult areas to clean effectively are collars, pockets, and seams. To reduce costs, laundries are also known to mix clothing from different sources and reduce washing temperatures to save on energy costs.
As mentioned above, in order to offset the relatively high cost of reusable clothing, it needs to withstand 50 to 70 decontamination cycles. Numerous studies have found that the protective barrier of clothing decreases with each cycle. To be truly confident that the garment is protecting effectively, it should be tested after each decontamination cycle by physical inspection and water resistance testing, with the results recorded. If this is not measured or at least the risk assessed, can you be sure that the protection provided is now safe for employees and products?
Environmental
For disposable cleanroom garments, the energy and CO2 emissions used to produce a single cleanroom garment are much less than for reusable protective clothing. However, a full life cycle analysis is just as important here. There are too many environmental factors associated with washed garments, including management and qualification, transportation (if the factory is not in-house), huge energy costs, water and detergents required during the decontamination process, repackaging, etc.
Comfort
Disposable garments may be perceived as less comfortable, however, this is not necessarily the case. Modern materials are both lightweight and breathable while still maintaining a protective barrier. Some washed garments are made of materials that retain moisture rather than breathe.
Category III, 5 and 6 coveralls or lab coats offer a combination of comfort and breathability. Look for features that increase comfort and fit, such as knitted wrist cuffs rather than elastic cuffs. Elastic cuffs can be uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time. This may not sound important, but it does matter when worn for long periods of time.
The wearing comfort and appearance of reusable garments does suffer after repeated wash cycles.
Versatility
The cost of disposables does allow for greater flexibility and versatility, especially where workloads are high and staff change. Disposable garments are also available in sterile form at relatively little cost.
Conclusion
The articles clearly demonstrate the cost advantage between disposable and reusable garments. Therefore, the health and safety risks and cross contamination risks of reusable garments also need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis and there is no one answer that covers all issues.