AAAR 35th Annual Conference October 17 - October 21, 2016 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Application of ISO 14644-1 to Evaluate the Impact of Materials and Devices on Clean Room Class Ratings or to Evaluate Respiratory Device Airstreams
ELLIOTT HORNER, Scott Steady, Mark Reardon, Benjamine Britt, Scott Lawrence, UL Environment
Abstract Number: 521 Working Group: Indoor Aerosols
Abstract Building material and office equipment manufacturers need to evaluate the impact of their products in a clean room environment if those products are used there. Separately, evaluation of respiratory therapy devices lacks a reference method to screen particulate matter (PM) release levels. Our use of ISO 14644 for these purposes provides a reference level for further improvements.
Building materials, hardcopy devices and respiratory therapy devices were evaluated for the emission of PM. The evaluations were conducted in environmental exposure chambers operated in accordance with ASTM D6670. Prior to evaluations, a chamber was monitored for 4-24 hours with either a MetOne 3445 Laser Particle Counter or a TSI Aerotrak 9500 particle counter. The ISO 14644 class at equilibrium was determined prior to loading the device or material to be tested.
When sampled directly from the airstream, the ISO 14644 class of the discharge of multiple respiratory therapy devices was one class cleaner (Class 4 to 3) based on average concentration than the chamber environment in which the device was operating, consistent with additional internal filtration. Two construction assemblies were within one class unit (Class 3 to 2 or 2.5 to 3) of the chamber rating prior to installation. Hardcopy devices are recognized to emit PM, but the models evaluated increase the average-concentration–based ISO class no more than one unit (Class 4 to 5 or 6 to 7) and typically for less than 15 minutes.
The proposed method ISO 14644-14 should become available in 2016 and specifically addresses devices to be used in clean room settings. This will offer a degree of standardization of these procedures, which will be particularly valuable since the concept has already proven useful for related purposes not in clean rooms settings.