Sweat Responses to Pesticide-Proof Clothing Influenced by Textile Materials

Abstract

Themoregulatory responses were compared at an ambient temperature of 30°C and a relative humidity of 50% between two kinds of protective clothing for pesticide spraying. One was made of nylon with wet coating polyurethane (A) and another was made of cotton with water repellent finish (B). The clothing ensemble was composed of a short-sleeved cotton shirt, long cotton underpants, cotton socks, shoes and the protective clothing. Five young female adults served as subjects. They took a rest with protective clothing ensemble for 15 min and then walked on a motor-driven treadmill (80m/min, 5% uphill grade) for 40 min, followed by 20-min rest. The increase of forearm sweat rate was higher in clothing A than in clothing B in 4 out of 5 subjects, although the average values were not significantly different. The total sweat rate of the whole body was also significantly larger in clothing A. Mean skin temperature and local skin temperatures in the arm, the chest and the thigh were significantly higher in clothing A than in clothing B. Clothing microclimate humidity was significantly higher in clothing A, while clothing microclimate temperature tended to be higher in clothing A. Individual observations about thermal, humidity and comfort sensation disclosed that the sensation was improved as a whole in clothing B. Local sweat rate was linearly related to mean body temperature and the regression line for clothing A was located above that for clothing B in 4 out of 5 subjects. Thus, it was concluded that the new cotton protective clothing with water proof finishing (clothing B) was improved in terms of subjective voting and reduction of heat strain compared with the protective clothing consisting of nylon with wet coating polyurethane (clothing A).