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Heat Strain in Personal Protective Clothing: Challenges and Intervention Strategies

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Intelligent Textiles and Clothing for Ballistic and NBC Protection

Abstract

Humans rely on sweat evaporation during exercise in the heat to promote cooling and to maintain thermal homeostasis. In protective clothing, however, sweat evaporation is severely hampered and this may lead to uncompensable heat strain, where core body temperature continues to rise leading to physical exhaustion and the cessation of work. The tolerance time depends on three main factors: (1) the initial core temperature that may be reduced by heat acclimation and pre-cooling, (2) the final core temperature, which can be increased due to physical training, and (3) the rate of change in body core temperature, which is dependent on the thermal environment, work rate and individual factors like body composition. Methods to reduce heat strain in protective clothing include: (1) increasing clothing permeability for air, (2) adjusting pacing strategy, including work/rest schedules, (3) physical training, and (4) cooling interventions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. DRDC Toronto, 1133 Sheppard Avenue West, Toronto, ON, M3M 3B9, Canada

    T. M. McLellan

  2. TNO Defence, Security and Safety, Soesterberg, The Netherlands

    H. A. M. Daanen

  3. Faculty of Human Movement Sciences, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    H. A. M. Daanen

Authors
  1. T. M. McLellan
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  2. H. A. M. Daanen
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Correspondence to H. A. M. Daanen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Textiles, Ghent University, Technologiepark 907, Zwijnaarde-Gent, 9052, Belgium

    Paul Kiekens

  2. , School of Textile & Fiber Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Ferst Drive 801, Atlanta, 30332-0295, Georgia, USA

    Sundaresan Jayaraman

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McLellan, T.M., Daanen, H.A.M. (2012). Heat Strain in Personal Protective Clothing: Challenges and Intervention Strategies. In: Kiekens, P., Jayaraman, S. (eds) Intelligent Textiles and Clothing for Ballistic and NBC Protection. NATO Science for Peace and Security Series B: Physics and Biophysics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0576-0_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0576-0_5

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