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What are the trade names and manufacturers of some materials used in personal protective clothing and what are they made of?
The table below lists the names of some commercial products that are used in producing certain kinds of personal protective clothing (e.g., gloves, aprons, vests, suits). These are mentioned elsewhere in OSH Answers question-and-answer documents as examples of registered (®) or trademark (™) products. However, for the sake of brevity, the manufacturers' names and product descriptions were not included in the question and answer documents. This list gives the name of the manufacturer and a brief description of the material and examples of what kinds of personal protective clothing are made from these materials. For more complete descriptions of the products and their uses and limitations, you should consult your safety equipment supplier and/or the manufacturer.
This list is not intended to be comprehensive; you may know of other products that meet your needs. The mention of trade name products is not intended as a recommendation or endorsement of any product but is provided for the convenience of users since the trade mark names are used commonly in the literature.
|ChemMax®||Lakeland||Trade name of a range of chemical protective suits.|
|Kevlar®||DuPont||Aramid (aromatic polyamide) fibre - tough textile fiber used in protective clothing where resistance to cuts, heat, bullets or flying fragments is needed.|
|Nomex®||DuPont||High-temperature-resistant aramid (aromatic polyamide) fibre; resistant to a wide range of industrial chemicals and solvents.|
|SARANEX™||Dow Chemical Company||SARANEX™ barrier films are multilayered plastic films that combine two or more polymers to form a layered film. The barrier layer is SARAN resin.|
|Teflon®||DuPont||Fluorocarbon polymers made from tetrafluoroethylene (TFE) or from a mixture of tetrafluoroethylene and hexafluoropropylene. Has excellent chemical and thermal resistance but poor physical strength properties; is combined with other materials in protective clothing.|
|Trellchem®||Ansell||Trade name of a range of chemical protective suits. All are made with a polyamide fabric coated with different materials for the outside and inside layers offering protection against exposure to wide range of chemicals.|
|Tychem®||DuPont||Offers protection against exposure to wide range of chemicals and is tear-and puncture-resistant.|
|Tychem® Responder®||DuPont||Multi-barrier film material designed to offer a high degree of permeation resistance to a broad range of chemicals in various garment styles.|
|WorkMaster®||Draeger||The suit material is made of the high quality material HIMEX®, a particular feature of which is the high degree of resistance to chemicals and mechanical resistance.|
|Zytron®||Kappler||Trade name of a range of chemical protective suits.|
How do I find more information about selecting protective clothing?
The OSH Answers document Chemical Protective Clothing - Glove Selection has information about what things you should consider when you are deciding about the kind of chemical protective clothing or glove material to use.
Check with your safety equipment supplier to find out what products (e.g., gloves, boots, aprons, suits, etc.) are available that meet the needs for the kind of chemical exposure anticipated in your workplace. Sometimes you will have to contact the manufacturer to find out if a given product is suitable for certain mixtures of solvents.
Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy, currency and completeness of the information, CCOHS does not guarantee, warrant, represent or undertake that the information provided is correct, accurate or current. CCOHS is not liable for any loss, claim, or demand arising directly or indirectly from any use or reliance upon the information.