Not All Cleanroom Garments Are Created Equal!

June Enterprises gives an outlook on the benefits of specialised garments which will help to reduce the impact of contamination from people in cleanroom and to minimise the risk of contamination events.

IT IS an essential requirement that any cleanroom environment in which people are working will require a means of ensuring that the air is not compromised by contamination generated by those people. It is a well established fact that people are the number one source of viable and non-viable contamination in a cleanroom, with the average wearer dispersing millions of particles (i.e. skin, hair, perspiration) from their bodies every minute. A contamination event in a cleanroom can lead to expensive shut downs, increased production costs, product recalls and, in the worst case scenario, loss of life. On an average a pharmaceutical manufacturer spends approximately € 2 million a year to remediate contamination occurrences1. To reduce the impact of contamination from people in cleanroom and to minimise the risk of contamination events, specialised garments have to be worn along with other items such as gloves, goggles and facemasks.

The purpose of all cleanroom apparel is to protect the manufactured product from contamination caused by wearer. It should also be comfortable to wear over long periods of time.

There are two cleanroom garment options which are designed specifically to reduce contamination – both the particle generation from the wearer through the fabric. Without these garments, the cleanroom will be out of specification almost immediately. This would significantly increase the risk of contamination and undoubtedly compromise the products being manufactured within it.

Reusable or disposable garments?