The influence of air temperature on the subjective feelings of barrier suit users

A set of protective clothing against infectious agents (PPE) is intended to prevent infection with pathogens, and the required high level of protection hinders heat exchange due to sweat evaporation. In heat stress conditions, evaporative heat loss through the skin from the user body to the external environment is then difficult or very limited, resulting in a significant impairment of overall heat exchange/transfer and, consequently, affects the productivity and health of PPE users. In order to check how the type of PPE clothing used and particular microclimatic conditions affect the subjective feelings of users, tests were conducted under controlled conditions in a climatic chamber. Two variants of the study were conducted: W1 - set with a barrier suit at an air temperature of 29 ^oC, W2 - set with a barrier suit at an air temperature of 22 ^oC. The results of the conducted studies indicate that the temperature of conducting the test has an impact on the subjective assessments of users of barrier clothing, after just 1 h of exposure. Controlling the air temperature (e.g. in a room) through air conditioning can reduce the intensity of physiological and psychomotor disorders.