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(12/15/99)
Fire Fighters Protective Clothing:
MOISTURE BARRIER ALERT AND RECALL
As we previously informed our
membership, the manufacturer of BREATHE-TEX® moisture
barriers used in fire fighters’ protective clothing has
alerted protective clothing manufacturers using their
product that this product is degrading in the field. The
manufacturer, Aldan Engineered Coated Fabrics, states that
the moisture barrier should be replaced if evidence of such
breakdown has occurred.
The IAFF continues to believe that
this situation may pose a significant safety hazard to fire
fighters. Not only does the moisture barrier provide primary
protection from water. it provides primary protection from
many common liquids. Those liquids include some common
chemicals and bloodborne pathogens encountered during the
normal performance of fire fighting duties. These duties
include structural fire fighting operations, aircraft rescue
and fire operations, extrication of victims from vehicles
and other entrapment situations, provision of first
responder or emergency medical care and other fire fighting
and rescue situations.
Since issuing our original Alert,
Mountain View Manufacturing (Quest Enterprises, Inc.) has
joined The Total Fire Group (Morning Pride Manufacturing) in
offering their customers a recall of Breath-Tex at no cost
to the customer. Two additional manufacturers, Starfield
Safetywear and Bristol Uniforms North America have informed
the IAFF that they have never used the BREATHE-TEX® product.
We believe that a product recall and replacement is the
right stand on this issue and all manufacturers of fire
fighters’ protective clothing should follow suit and
initiate such a product recall.
Unfortunately, such is not the case.
On November 15, the manufacturers of
Body-Guard (Lion Apparel), Cairns Protective Clothing
(Globe), Fire-Dex, Fire-Gear (Securitex), Globe Firefighter
Suits, Janesville (Lion Apparel), Quaker Safety, and
Securitex Brands of fire fighters protective clothing issued
the following Joint Statement regarding the wear life of
moisture barriers. Their full statement follows:
- The moisture barrier is the
most fragile protective component in your gear. While
everyone would like to understand exactly what causes
moisture barriers to wear out, and when it will happen,
it is likely to happen before other elements of your
protective clothing wear out. For this reason, every
fire fighter and fire department should inspect their
gear on a regular basis, as stated in our user guides.
Particular attention should be paid to the moisture
barrier, regardless of what brand it is.
- Aldan Industries, Inc., the
producer of the majority of the moisture barriers being
used today, has written to manufacturers of NFPA
compliant turnouts to advise them that some of their
"BREATHE-TEX® moisture barriers used in fire fighters’
turnout garments are showing signs of degradation." The
letter from Mr. Edwin T. Winter, chairman/CEO of Aldan,
goes on to say that their "investigations suggest that
the garments may have been subject to attack resulting
from storage conditions, length of service, care and/or
maintenance." Mr. Winter also indicates there are a
number of factors that may cause this degradation to
occur over time.
- BREATHE-TEX® has been in the
fire service since 1994. Wear life issues were only
recognized recently, five years after the product was
introduced.
- We believe that the potential
exists for polyurethane moisture barriers similar to
BREATHE-TEX® to degrade over time in a similar manner.
However, recent improvements in the construction of
these barriers by other suppliers may provide longer
wear life.
- The long-term wear
characteristics of most fire fighting fabrics are not
fully apparent until they have been in service for an
extended period of time. For example, the full extent of
the wear life difference between 6 ounce PBI® and 7.5
ounce PBI® was not known until the lighter weight
product had been in service for several years.
- Just as no manufacturer
claimed equivalent wear life for 6.0 ounce and 7.5 ounce
PBI®, no manufacturer (including Aldan) has claimed that
any polyurethane based moisture barrier will have equal
durability to a Crosstech® PTFE barrier.
- There are differences and
tradeoffs in performance, quality, durability and price
throughout the entire range of outer shells, thermal
barriers, moisture barriers, reflective trim,
reinforcements, etc.
- Another manufacturer’s
11/10/99 "recall" program for BREATHE-TEX® denies the
similarities between that product and other Aldan
offerings such as BREATHE-TEX PLUS®. It also fails to
address the importance of inspecting and checking all
moisture barriers on a regular basis.
- There is a simple field test
you can perform to check any moisture barrier: Place
your liner on a flat surface (or over a bucket) with the
dry thermal barrier facing down and dry moisture barrier
facing up. Pour about one-half cup of water on the
moisture barrier and wait a few minutes. If the water
passes through the moisture barrier and wets the thermal
barrier, your liner should be removed from service and
repaired or replaced. Perform this simple test in high
abrasion areas (like the broadest part of the shoulders,
at the knee, or the seat of the pants), or where you
have detected other potential damage to the shell or
thermal barrier. It is difficult to determine with any
certainty whether your moisture barrier leaks by looking
at either the film or the fabric it’s laminated to. Do
the test! Or have the test done by a reputable turnout
cleaning and repair company.
- If you do this test on your
gear, and there is leakage, or you detect leakage,
contact your local dealer or original manufacturer about
repair or replacement of the moisture barrier.
The IAFF strongly believes that
this is the wrong course of action and places the fire
fighter at risk. Just as Aldan has passed the
responsibility for inspection and correction to the
protective clothing manufacturers, this Joint Statement
passes the responsibility to the fire department that
purchased these manufacturers’ clothing. Although the
manufactures are honoring their warranties on individual
garment failures, these are often only within a one-year
warranty period.
The IAFF has been a continual strong
proponent of inspection, maintenance of and, when necessary,
replacement of fire fighters protective clothing to assure
the protection of the fire fighter that the garment was to
provide. Accordingly, we agree with the Joint Statement
regarding regular garment inspection. However, premature
product failure demands a recall and replacement.
The Joint Statement also fails to
recognize the critical uses of moisture barrier product
other then as a liner. Moisture barrier product is used in
all closure and interface areas (i.e., facings) to provide
complete and circumferential protection to the fire fighter.
For these reasons, the NFPA 1971, Standard on Structural
Fire Fighting Protective Ensemble requires a full shower
test to determine compliance of the liner and all such
facings. Spot-checking with a 1/2 cup of water
demonstrates nothing, except when the product fails this
simplistic test. In recognition of Aldan’s statement, that
the problem is not observable by routine visual inspection,
and the failure to address closure and interface areas,
"passing" the one-half cup of water test means very little.
Accordingly, this product must be replaced.
Further, we are only aware of degradation of Aldan’s
BREATHE-TEX®. This polyurethane product is a non-crosslinked
microporus polymer membrane that is laminated to a fabric,
usually NOMEX E-89®.
Since this issue surfaced, the fire
service has been bombarded with unfamiliar technical terms
regarding moisture barriers. Following is a summary of
moisture barrier product technology.
There are three types of moisture
barrier product technology used today in fire fighters
protective garments. These include using membranes that are
microporous, monolithic, or bi-component.
A microporous membrane contains
small passages (holes) allowing for minute air permeability
and thus offers water vapor transfer (breathability) by
air-diffusion. A non-crosslinked polyurethane polymer is
used for the microporous moisture barrier product
BREATHE-TEX®, as well as the PORELLE®, PROLINE® and VAPRO®
products. Another product, TETRATEX®, is a microporous
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane (TEFLON®) that is
coated with silicone. These microporous membranes are
laminated (glued) to a base fabric such as NOMEX E-89® or
the BASOFIL® product VILENE®.
A monolithic membrane is a
continuous polymer layer without any passages (holes), and,
therefore, does not have any air permeability. Nonbreathable
monolithic moisture barrier products include neoprene
(NEOGUARD®) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Nonbreathable
neoprene moisture barriers are still used in the fire
service. However, the new edition of NFPA 1971 (2000
edition) has a breathability performance requirement that
will eliminate their use. Nonbreathable PVC moisture
barriers, while used in Europe, were not used in protective
garments for the U.S. and Canadian fire service.
Breathable monolithic moisture barrier
products use hydrophilic polymers (i.e., a water loving
material that has a strong affinity for, and the ability to
absorb water) that allow water vapor transfer
(breathability) through molecular diffusion. Once water
vapor contacts the hydrophilic polymer, it permeates through
the polymer one molecule at a time. Cross-linked
polyurethane polymers often are found in monolithic moisture
barriers used by the fire service. Cross-linking is a
polymer chemistry term that describes the stabilization of
the polymer through additives. The chemical process connects
the polymer’s molecular chains through molecular bridges.
Cross-linking of polymers can increase the product’s thermal
stability. Typically, increased cross-linking can also
reduce breathability and increase stiffness of the final
product. Monolithic moisture barrier products using
polyurethane include BREATHE-TEX PLUS® and STEDAIR 2000®.
Other polymers are used for breathable
monolithic moisture barrier products, including polyamides
and co-polyesters. Monolithic moisture barrier products
using co-polyesters are not typically used in the fire
service for protective clothing moisture barriers; however,
the co-polyester product SYMPATEX® is used as a moisture
barrier in protective footwear. A monolithic moisture
barrier product using polyamides is STEDAIR 82®.
These polymers are usually coated onto
a base fabric such as Nomex E-89. There are two typical
coating methods used for moisture barrier products. With
cast-coating the polymer resin is applied over the base
fabric and cured by heated casting drums. In direct coating,
also called knife-over-roll, the liquid polymer is spread on
a moving base fabric supported by a roller system by a
stationary knife; the gap between the knife and the fabric
determines the coating thickness.
A bi-component moisture barrier
product uses a combination of microporous and monolithic
technologies, and allows no air permeability. There are two
methods to combine this technology, intimate and layered.
An intimate bi-component moisture
barrier product uses a monolithic polymer that is
impregnated into a microporous membrane. Intimate
bi-component membranes include GORE-TEX® and CROSSTECH®.
These products use a microporous expanded
polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) membrane (TEFLON®) that is
monolithically impregnated with cross-linked polyurethane.
The membrane is laminated (glued) to a base fabric such as
NOMEX E89® or NOMEX® ripstop (i.e. pajama check).
A layered bi-component moisture
barrier product uses a monolithic polymer that is placed
either on top of or below the microporous membrane.
AQUATECHTM uses a base fabric that is laminated to a
microporous membrane and than coated with a thin monolithic
layer. COMFORT ZONE® uses a base fabric that is coated with
a monolithic layer with a microporous layer on top. These
layered bi-component membranes use a base fabric such as
NOMEX® E-89 or the BASOFIL® product VILENE®.
Most fire service breathable moisture
barrier products, as described above, use polyurethane
technology due to this polymer’s ability to be made
hydrophilic. The challenging issue with hydrophilic
polyurethanes is producing a moisture barrier product that
is hydrophilic but that still maintains thermal and durable
properties. Different degrees of polymer cross-linking are
often used to create a balance in these properties, as are
different construction technologies with microporous and
monolithic layers.
Because the moisture barrier products
described above use different polymer and construction
techniques, research is continuing to determine whether the
performance problems demonstrated with BREATHE-TEX®
(especially cracking, flaking and leaking) are applicable to
other moisture barrier products. Currently, there are no
indications or field reports that other monolithic or
bi-component moisture barrier products are experiencing the
same degradation performance problems. However, the IAFF is
attempting to determine if the BREATHE-TEX® problem also
exists in the similar microporous products VAPRO®, PORELLE®,
and PROLINE®. Porvair International, Ltd. manufactures
PORELLE®, which is sold in the United Kingdom (and in the
United States as a moisture barrier membrane for fire
fighter gloves). Porvair has licensed its microporous
membrane technology to Aldan, which markets this product in
the United States as BREATHE-TEX®, to Dominion Textile which
markets this product in Canada as VAPRO® and to Lanair de
Picardie, which markets this product in France as PROLINE®.
Some of these moisture barrier
products are no longer being marketed to the fire service
protective clothing manufacturers. BREATHE-TEX® has not been
sold to the garment manufactures since the spring of 1999,
but they may still be available to the fire service. In the
case of BREATHE-TEX®, protective clothing manufacturers may
have protective garments in stock that were constructed of
this material. Also, there may be considerable numbers of
protective garments that use BREATHE-TEX® in their
distribution network. Fire departments must be made aware of
this and must not accept any products that contain
BREATHE-TEX®. The IAFF is also aware that some protective
clothing manufacturers have used BREATHE-TEX® as facings
(e.g., in front closures, cuffs, and liner interface areas).
We believe this was done at a cost saving, where a more
expensive moisture barrier liner (e.g., CROSSTECH®) was
specified but the manufacturer used a cheaper product (in
this case BREATHE-TEX®) as the facing. If the BREATHE-TEX®
facing provides part of the circumferential protection, then
it must be replaced. Also, fire departments should check
their purchase specifications to make sure that such
substitutions are not allowed.
We will continue to inform you of any
new technical information on this issue and any new actions
of the protective clothing manufacturers and the certifying
organization.
November 12, 1999
Fire Fighters Protective Clothing:
Moisture Barrier Alert and Recall
The IAFF has been informed that the
manufacturer of BREATHE-TEX® moisture barriers used in fire
fighters’ protective clothing has alerted protective
clothing manufacturers using their product that this product
is degrading in the field. The manufacturer, Aldan
Engineered Coated Fabrics, states that the moisture barrier
should be replaced if evidence of such breakdown has
occurred.
The IAFF believes that this may pose a
significant safety hazard to fire fighters. Not only does
the moisture barrier provide primary protection from water;
it provides primary protection from many common liquids,
including some common chemicals, and from bloodborne
pathogens encountered during the normal performance of fire
fighting duties. These duties include structural fire
fighting operations, aircraft rescue and fire operations,
extrication of victims from vehicles and other entrapment
situations, provision of first responder or emergency
medical care and other fire fighting and rescue situations.
Additionally, the moisture barrier
provides protection from scald-type injuries, including
those caused by wetting of an already heated garment, steam
jet exposure, and saturated water vapor atmospheres. The
moisture barrier also provides protection from cold
injuries, including the prevention of water intrusion into
the moisture barrier resulting in loss of function and
comfort.
The following is the text of the
letter sent to manufacturers from Aldan Engineered Coated
Fabrics:
Fire Service Letter for
Manufacturers
We are writing to inform you that some of our of
BREATHE-TEX® moisture barriers used in fire fighters’
turnout garments are showing signs of degradation. The
degradation, not readily observable by routine visual
inspection, is primarily in the form of film cracking. A
degradated moisture barrier film will allow the passage of
liquids, thereby reducing the level of protection in
proportion to the degree of degradation.
Our investigations suggest that the
garments may have been subject to attack possibly resulting
from storage conditions, length of service, care, and/or
maintenance. We have striven to determine the cause of the
degradation, but have not been able to replicate the
condition. We are of course continuing to investigate the
cause/s of this issue and will keep you fully informed of
our progress.
For any of your customers currently
using a BREATHE-TEX® moisture barrier, we recommend advising
them of a potential problem and to have their gear checked.
Where there is evidence that breakdown has occurred, we
recommend the moisture barrier be replaced.
We regret any problems caused by this
unforeseen condition.
Sincerely,
s/
Edwin T. Winter
Chairman, CEO
Wearing of fire fighter protective
clothing that use BREATHE-TEX® as a functional element in
protective clothing, including moisture barriers and garment
interface elements (facings) may jeopardize the health and
safety of fire fighters. Accordingly, the IAFF has also
contacted the certification organization, Underwriters
Laboratories, and requested an immediate investigation of
malperformance and failure of this product in the field. The
following is the text of letter sent to Underwriters
Laboratories:
November 12, 1999
Thomas Castino
President
Underwriters Laboratories, Inc,
333 Pfingsten Road
Northbrook, IL. 60062
Dear Mr. Castino,
This letter serves as notification, as presented by
the manufacturer, that there is evidence that BREATHE-TEX®
moisture barriers, manufactured by Aldan Engineered Coated
Fabrics, are failing to perform as certified by Underwriters
Laboratories (UL). BREATHE-TEX® is used as a functional
element component in structural fire fighters protective
ensembles, as moisture barriers and interface elements, and
has been certified by UL to meet NFPA 1971 Standard on
Protective Ensemble for Structural Fire Fighting, 1997
edition.
On November 3, 1999, Aldan Engineered
Coated Fabrics informed their fire service manufacturing
customers of the field degradation of their product and that
the degraded moisture barriers be replaced.
In accordance with section 2-2.8 of
the standard, we request that UL initiate a field
investigation of these reports of malperformance and
failure.
Section 2-2.8 states:
The certification organization shall
have a program for investigating field reports alleging
malperformance or failure of listed products.
Upon completion of the investigation,
and if supported by the investigation, we insist that UL
require and enforce a recall on these defective products
which bear the UL mark of certification in accordance with
Sections 2-2.9 and 2-2.11 of NFPA 1971, which state:
2-2.9 The certification organization
shall require the manufacturer to have a product recall
system a s part of the manufacturer’s quality assurance
program.
2-2,11 The certification organization
shall be in a position to use legal means to protect the
integrity of its name and label.
We are fully aware that the
certification procedures conducted by UL address the
certification of new products. However, the above-cited
sections clearly address field failure of certified
components with recall mechanisms to effect their removal
from service. The fire service and the American public have
come to depend on UL certification as a symbol of product
safety. We are certain that UL will fulfill its obligations
in this matter. As employee representatives of product users
whose lives are potentially jeopardized by this product we
request a copy of the investigation report and notification
of any actions by UL, which follow from the investigation.
Please do not hesitate to contact us
if we may be of assistance in this matter.
s/
International Association of Fire Fighters
All fire departments should have their
protective clothing checked to determine the presence of
BREATHE-TEX® moisture barriers and facings. If this cannot
be determined by inventory tracking or by the product label,
the clothing manufacturer must be contacted. Remember, this
is a problem with the moisture barrier and facing
components, and is not particular to any clothing
manufacturer.
The manufacturers of protective
clothing are now developing their response to address this
issue. As of today (11/12/99), we are aware that one
manufacturer, Total Fire Group (Morning Pride Clothing), has
initiated a full recall of their garments from inventory and
from the field that use BREATHE-TEX® moisture barriers. We
will keep you informed of the actions of other protective
clothing manufacturers. The following is a list of
manufacturers of protective clothing in the United States
and Canada:
- Alb, Inc.
A. L. Bartolucci
President
366 Somerville Avenue
Somerville, MA 02143
617-666-8110
617-776-0165 (Fax)
- Bristol Uniforms North America
Thomas Francis
Sales Manager
71 Rosedale Avenue, Unit A-2
Brampton, ONT, CAN L6X 1K4
800-565-5483
905-450-3436 (Fax)
Bristol@idirect.com
(e-mail)
- Cairns Protective Clothing
(contact
Globe Fire Fighters Suits)
Donald Welch
President
37 Loudon Road
Pittsfield, NH 03263
603-435-8323
800-442-6388 (Fax)
globesalesw@globefiresuits.com
(e-mail)
- Chieftain Safety Manufacturing
Scott McMichael
President
14040 NW 58th Court
Miami Lakes, FL 33014
305-556-2440
305-820-4290 (Fax)
nanm@protectmat.com
(e-mail)
- Fire-Dex, Inc.
William Burke
President
780 S. Progress Drive
Medina, OH 44256
330-723-0000
330-723-0035 (Fax)
firedex@earthlink.com
(e-mail)
- FireGear (contact
Securitex)
- Fyrepel
Gregory Willis
Sales Manager
202 Pride Lane, SW
Decatur, AL 35603
256-350-3107
256-350-3011 (Fax)
lake@net-master.net
(e-mail)
- Globe Fire Fighters Suits
Donald Welch
President
37 Loudon Road
Pittsfield, NH 03263
603-435-8323
800-442-6388 (Fax)
globesalesw@globefiresuits.com
(e-mail)
- Lion Apparel, Inc.
Steven Schwartz
President
P.O. Box 13576
Dayton, OH 45413
937-898-1949
513-898-9204 (Fax)
lionpsg@lionapparel.com
(e-mail)
- Morning Pride Manufacturing
(contact
Total Fire Group)
- Mountain View Manufacturing
JoVonne Fitzgerald
Sales Manager
408 Russell Street
Walsenburg, CO 81089
719-738-2345
719-738-2319 (Fax)
- Quaker Safety Products
Corporation
Frank Nicholas
President
103 South Main Street
Quakertown, PA 18951
215-536-2991
215-538-2164 (Fax)
qspc@enter.net (e-mail)
- Securitex, Inc.
Ross Cochran
President
715 4th Avenue
Grand Junction, CO 81501
514-282-0503
514-282-8871 (Fax)
info@securitex.com
(e-mail)
- Starfield Safety
Phil Goodfield
President
1020 Lawrence Avenue, W.
Toronto, ONT, Can M6A 1C8
416-789-4354
416-789-5475 (Fax)
strfield@direct.com
(e-mail)
- Total Fire Group
William Grilliot
CEO
#1 Innovation Court
Dayton, OH 45413
937-264-2662
937-264-2677 (Fax)
bg@totalfiregroup.com
(e-mail)
- Veridian
Joe Adams
Vice President
1601 48th Street
West Des Moines, IA 50266
515-223-1399
515-223-6285 (Fax)
info@veridian.net (e-mail)
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