Evaluating Disposable Isolation Gown Liquid Barrier Test Methods for Relevance to Healthcare
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Healthcare staff rely on isolation gowns to provide a degree of protection against cross contamination from blood or body fluids. Gowns that meet standardized liquid barrier penetration test methods provide staff with a presumed assurance of safety. However, these test methods-namely impact penetration and resistance to hydrostatic pressure-were not drafted with personal protective equipment in mind and therefore may be inappropriate for testing products intended for use in a healthcare environment. This study found that adjusting testing parameters to better simulate clinical conditions altered the measured performance outcomes of the gowns. Specifically, increasing the temperature of the gown material's preconditioning environment or test liquid resulted in statistically significant variations in results. Further, although hydrostatic pressure resistance is measured by the appearance of a third liquid droplet on the inner surface of the gown material, the first two droplets appeared at significantly lower pressures and likely would constitute contamination of healthcare staff. The results indicated that current isolation gown test protocols and regulations should be reevaluated to more accurately reflect healthcare scenarios and improve alignment with expected barrier performance.
Authors: Karen Haberland, Julie Miller, James Davis, Mukui Mutunga, Jeremy Suggs
Language: English
Subfield: Infectious Diseases
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funder: Drexel University
OpenAlex ID: W4411207559