Chemical Resistant Leather Materials for CBRN Boots

摘要

Responders to Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) incidents can encounter a wide range of hazards including primary CBRN threats, flash fire, and physical hazards that can puncture and abrade their protective gear. They often need to wear boots for extended periods, which can produce significant physiological stress and abrasive skin damage. CBRN boots are usually made of rubber composites that can provide a high level of chemical resistance. However, rubber chemical protection boots are uncomfortable and unstable. Leather composites are better materials for boot construction due to ruggedness, flexibility, and they are relatively light weight. In fact, well designed leather boots, with linings to prevent intrusion of toxic chemicals, have been found to be very comfortable [2, 3]. The technical barrier to use of leather components in CBRN boot applications has been the concern of repellency to toxic chemicals due to the wicking of chemicals into porous leathers, and the inherent affinity of leather for water and polar chemical materials.