Permeation tester for testing the chemical resistance/permeation of protective clothing and gloves in accordance with EN 374-3.

Measuring system for testing the chemical resistance / permeation of protective clothing and gloves

Hazardous substances find their way into the human organism not only through the mouth or nose, but also through the skin, the largest and probably most polluted organ of the body. With the skin, nature has provided the organism with a protective, complex and enormously powerful system. It protects against chemical, physical and biological attacks on the inside of the body.

The manufacturers of chemicals describe in safety data sheets in accordance with EC Directives 91/155/EEC (and DIN 52900), in addition to the production properties, all measures that are necessary when handling chemicals.

When recommending personal protective equipment, the following are used in practice, for example
the following formulations for hand protection: “required” or “wear suitable protective gloves”.
However, such formulations are no longer up to date, both in the handling of chemicals in the chemical industry and in relation to other areas of application, such as

• Suppliers to the chemical processing industry where chemicals are used, such as the food industry (including cold stores)
• Pharmaceutical industry, steel processing industry, pickling plants, etc.
• Agriculture
• Transportation of chemicals
• Boiler and system cleaning
• Soil remediation of landfills, hazardous waste landfills, transport accidents, production accidents
• DIY and hobby markets
• Household

The safety data sheet (according to DIN 52900) contains a more precise recommendation for personal protective equipment.

The QUMAT®- 401 operates in accordance with this safety data sheet. The system consists of 6 glass vessels as described in EN 374-3. The films are fixed in a special PTFE holder, exposed to the substance to be analyzed on one side and then flowed through with a gas from the other side. (Flow with a liquid collecting medium is also possible!)

These 6 defined gas flows are now analyzed one after the other and the results are documented in tabular form. This makes it possible to determine the time after which a glove has reached the critical permeability (in (mg cm2)/min) on 6 samples simultaneously.

In detail, the QUMAT ® -401 system consists of:

• 6 glass vessels in accordance with EN 374-3. 6 gas flows flow through these 6 glass vessels in accordance with EN 374-3 specifications
• an automatic valve circuit so that all 6 gas flows can be sampled side by side.
• a housing made of transparent plastic with: built-in holder for 6 measuring cells, a temperature control with fan, a heater /
• Peltier cooling to achieve the required temperature of 23°C ± 1°C (adjustable).
• an FID that performs the desired detection of the gases to be determined.
• an electronic system that automates the QUMAT ® -401 and enables 1-6 samples to be analyzed in a cycle of between 1 and 99 minutes per analysis
• an integrator that can be calibrated and provides the results in the desired tabular form (in (mg cm2)/min) using a BASIC program (incl. an Excel© readable file)