Protection Properties of Woven Fabrics Against High-Intensity UV Radiation Emitted by Artificial Sources

In production processes artificial UV sources are frequently used, which can generate UV radiation within the range from 200 nm to 400 nm. The intensity of UV radiation generated by artificial sources and affecting the body may be hundreds of times larger than natural solar UV radiation. Exposure of the human body to this type of radiation leads to dangerous pathophysiological changes. Typical protective clothing against UV radiation is made of woven fabric where different sizes of clearances make it possible to transmit high intensive UV radiation directly on the human body. In order to analyse UV radiation intensity transmitted by different structures of woven fabric, a stepper motor driven scanner with a UV sensor based on a photodiode was constructed. The scanning resolution was about 0.1 mm × 0.1 mm. As an artificial UV source, a high pressure mercury lamp emitting UV radiation within the range from 210 nm to 400 nm was chosen. Among the woven fabrics tested, which were woven using the same yarn type and weft & warp densities, the most effective UV barriers are plain weave fabrics. A slightly lower value of the coefficient is observed for twill weave fabrics. For satin weave fabrics the attenuation coefficient is the lowest. Distribution images of UV radiation intensity transmitted by the woven fabric samples show irregular areas of different sizes, significantly exceeding the size of individual clearances, which was due to the photosensitive element of the photodiode moving away by 2 - 3 mm from the reverse side of the woven fabric, with the phenomena of UV radiation dispersion passing by the woven fabric clearances.

W wielu procesach produkcyjnych stosuje się sztuczne źródła promieniowania UV, które mogą oddziaływać na ciało człowieka i w konsekwencji powodować niebezpieczne zmiany patofizjologiczne. W artykule przedstawiono badania wpływu parametrów struktury tkaniny na jej właściwości barierowe UV w przypadku ekspozycji wysokoenergetycznym źródłem promieniowania UV. Analizowano również rozkład promieniowania przechodzącego przez strukturę tkaniny w celu wykrycia, w miejscach prześwitów, obecności promieniowania UV o bardzo wysokim natężeniu, porównywalnym z natężeniem promieniowania padającego.