Specialty Fabrics Review September 2020 - 52

FOCUS

ADVANCED TEXTILES

REQUIREMENTS
FOR DEFINING
SPECIFICATIONS
AND STANDARDS
RELY ON SCIENCE,
BUT ALSO END-USER
EXPECTATIONS.

director of the Coimbatore-based South India
Textile Research Association. "It is important
that they not only assure the user of the
suitability of a product for the intended end
use, but also facilitate creating an ecosystem
that ensures its continuous availability."

For example, modified ambient aerosol fit
test methods have been updated in the TSI
PortaCount tester to comply with the new
standard. Cooperation among instrument
makers and end users has reduced the compliance burden without comprising quality.

SCIENCE BASED
Standards for product development and
testing evolve appropriately when they are
based on peer-reviewed science, need and
cooperation. Consider, for example, the
recent changes made by the U.S. Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
to the Respiratory Protection Standard. In
accordance with more than one scientific
study, OSHA reduced the number of fit
exercises that led to shorter test duration.
Based on revisions, instrument makers are
helping users adapt existing machines to
conform to the new guidelines.

THE NECESSITY OF
STANDARDIZATION
Generally, a new standard or a modification to
existing ones evolves based on the situation,
need and new applications. We are witnessing
this situation with the need for different types
of face masks, such as face covers, FISORS and
similar PPE. The need for a new standard
must be justified, arising from new findings,
societal response and urgency. Again, using
face covers as an example, a recent study
by a team of researchers led by Texas A&M
has shown, based on data and projections,
which face covers prevented more than 66,000
infections in a month's time in New York City.
Professor Renyi Zhang of Texas A&M,
co-author of the study, says the mandated
use of face covers has helped with containing
COVID-19 in China. While it is an established
understanding that N95 masks offer the
best possible protection against aerosol
particles, the above study also emphasizes
the importance of alternative face protection
to counter the pandemic.
Professor Mario Molina, Nobel laureate
and co-author of the study, is among those
who have said that face masks help prevent
the transmission of droplets and safeguard an
uninfected person from inhaling the particles.
This research underscores the importance
of developing standards for face covers and
FISORS quickly, based on scientific studies
as well as on a consensus among stakeholders.
This is need-based standardization, where
speed of standardization and the determination
of specifics both play important roles.

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THE IMPORTANCE OF QUALITY
Although COVID-19 has created a new
normal, it does not mean quality requirements
have to be compromised. Particularly
in the case of health and environmental
considerations, attention must be paid to
the quality of the products.
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, when
N95 masks were in short supply, the end-user

52 REVIEW SEPTEMBER 2020

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Specialty Fabrics Review September 2020

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