How to measure the burn- preventive capability of non-flammable textiles: a comparison of the USAARL porcine bioassay technique with mathematical models

Knox, Francis S.; Wachtel, Thomas L.; Knapp, Stanley C

doi:10.1016/0305-4179(78)90035-9

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Unlike the traditional test methods for most functional clothing, human tests are never used due to the potential risk to the human body. Initially, in order to determine the burn prevention performance of nonflammable fabrics, the US Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory (USAARL) used the porcine cutaneous bioassay technique [4]. However, this technology is difficult and expensive to conduct.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prediction methods of skin burn for performance evaluation of thermal protective clothing

Zhai

2015

Burns

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prediction methods of skin burn for performance evaluation of thermal protective clothing

Zhai

2015

Burns

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“…The effect of clothing on heat transfer and burn incidence and severity can be assessed on animals, isolated clothing samples, mannequins, or computer modelling (Knox et al 1974;Knox et al 1978;Behnke 1984;Bamford and Boydell 1995;Staples 1996;House and Squire 1997;Elton 1999;NATO ACCP-2 1992).…”

Section: Clothing Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Burns and Military Clothing

McLean

2001

J R Army Med Corps

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Burn injury is a ubiquitous threat in the military environment. The risks during combat are well recognised, but the handling of fuel, oil, munitions and other hot or flammable materials during peacetime deployment and training also imposes an inherent risk of accidental burn injury. Over the last hundred years, the burn threat in combat has ranged from nuclear weapons to small shoulder-launched missiles. Materials such as napalm and white phosphorus plainly present a risk of burn, but the threat extends to encompass personnel in vehicles attacked by anti-armour weapons, large missiles, fuel-air explosives and detonations/conflagrations on weapons platforms such as ships. Large numbers of burn casualties were caused at Pearl Harbor, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Vietnam, during the Arab/Israeli Wars and in the Falkland Islands conflict. The threat from burns is unlikely to diminish, indeed new developments in weapons seek to exploit the vulnerability of the serviceman and servicewoman to burns. Clothing can be a barrier to some types of burn--both inherently in the properties of the material, but also by trapping air between clothing layers. Conversely, ignition of the clothing may exacerbate a burn. There is hearsay that burnt clothing products within a wound may complicate the clinical management, or that materials that melt (thermoplastic materials) should not be worn if there is a burn threat. This paper explores the incidence of burn injury, the mechanisms of heat transfer to bare skin and skin covered by materials, and the published evidence for the complication of wound management by materials. Even light-weight combat clothing can offer significant protection to skin from short duration flash burns; the most vulnerable areas are the parts of the body not covered--face and hands. Multilayered combat clothing can offer significant protection for short periods from engulfment by flames; lightweight tropical wear with few layers offers little protection. Under high heat loads in the laboratory, combat clothing can ignite, but there is little evidence that clothing ignition is a common occurrence in military burn casualties. Thermoplastic materials have many benefits in civil and military clothing. There is little objective evidence that they exacerbate burns, or complicate burn management. Their use in military clothing must be based on objective evidence, not hearsay.

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“…Skin burn damage mechanisms due to radiant dry heat exposure 12 , combined radiant and convective dry heat exposure 13 , or hot water exposure 14 – 16 have been extensively studied, but high temperature water vapor diffusion leading to skin damage has not been analyzed so far. Additionally, through many years of heat and moisture transfer investigations 2 , 17 – 21 on fire fighter clothing under highly moist conditions, it was reported to us that steam burns were frequently more severe than dry ones.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prediction of Steam Burns Severity using Raman Spectroscopy on ex vivo Porcine Skin

Zhai

Adlhart

Spano

et al. 2018

Sci Rep

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Skin burns due to accidental exposure to hot steam have often been reported to be more severe than the ones occurring from dry heat. While skin burns due to flames or radiant heat have been thoroughly characterized, the mechanisms leading to steam burns are not well understood and a conundrum still exists: can second degree burns occur without destruction of the epidermis, i.e. even before first degree burns are detected? Skin permeability is dependent both on temperature and on the kinetic energy of incoming water molecules. To investigate the mechanism underlying the injuries related to steam exposure, we used porcine skin as an ex vivo model. This model was exposed to either steam or dry heat before measuring the skin hydration via confocal Raman microspectroscopy. The results show that during the first minute of exposure to steam, the water content in both the epidermis and dermis increases. By analyzing different mechanisms of steam diffusion through the multiple skin layers, as well as the moisture-assisted bio-heat transfer, we provide a novel model explaining why steam burns can be more severe, and why steam can penetrate deeper and much faster than an equivalent dry heat.

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How to measure the burn- preventive capability of non-flammable textiles: a comparison of the USAARL porcine bioassay technique with mathematical models

Cited by 10 publications

References 12 publications

Prediction methods of skin burn for performance evaluation of thermal protective clothing

Prediction methods of skin burn for performance evaluation of thermal protective clothing

Burns and Military Clothing

Prediction of Steam Burns Severity using Raman Spectroscopy on ex vivo Porcine Skin

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