Permasure® Toxicity Modeller App

PermaSURE® is a new software tool designed to help answer one simple question:
- ‘How long can I work safely in this environment?’

Using the latest toxicity modelling techniques, the PermaSURE® app calculates your safe working time based on the chemical you are working with, the extent of your exposure, the glove or suit you are using and the glove or suit temperature.

The permeation data for chemical protective fabric is an important starting point in the decision process of what glove or suit material to choose for working with a given chemical, and provides an excellent means to compare different fabrics, but permeation data alone does not tell you how long you are safe to work, and if used incorrectly can actually give a false sense of security to chemical workers. The advantages of PermaSURE’s toxicity modelling are:

• It accounts for actual glove or suit temperature.  Permeation is measured in a laboratory at 23°C, but in use the temperature of the suit fabric may be much higher or lower.  As a rough rule of thumb the rate of a chemical process doubles with every 10°C rise in temperature; PermaSURE® models this accurately.  Whether the suit is as warm as the wearer (body temperature is typically 37°C ), or as cold as the surroundings (potentially below 0°C in winter), PermaSURE® gives reliable information about permeation resistance under real operating conditions.
• Breakthrough measures the time taken to reach an arbitrarily–specified rate of permeation through the suit fabric (typically 1.0µg/cm2/min), but by the time permeation reaches this rate how much chemical has already permeated through to the wearer?  PermaSURE® models low-level, but potentially-significant, permeation before breakthrough.
• PermaSURE® takes account of the toxicity of the substance your suit is exposed to when calculating a safe working time, thereby discriminating between harmful, toxic and carcinogenic substances, ensuring that the degree of protection matches the potential hazard to the wearer. It also provides clear hazard information.

PermaSURE® is available for use with Respirex Gloves and Suits made from Chemprotex™ 300 and Chemprotex™ 400 materials and our Kemblok™ chemical protective gloves and uses sophisticated modelling techniques to asses whether the suit will provide protection from a particular chemical for the working time required.

Accessible from any web enabled laptop, tablet or mobile phone, users can even scan the QR code printed on the suit label to take them directly to the site and automatically configure the suit selection. Permasure is also available as an app for iOS or Android devices and can be found in the Apple App Store or Google play by searching for 'Respirex Permeation Modeller', or use the links below.

PermaSURE® can be a valuable tool in the assessment of risk when working with potentially hazardous chemicals. Used in conjunction with available test data it can provide the user with a better understanding of the likely performance of a suit in real world conditions.