Physiological Evaluation of Effects on Personnel Wearing the Microwave Protective Suit and Overgarment

摘要

A silverized nylon, open-weave microwave protective suit and cotton twill overgarment, to be worn over conventional Navy work clothing, was developed to protect personnel working in the high-density radio frequency fields of the larger and more powerful radar scanning systems anticipated aboard Naval vessels and at shore installations. Since total body heat absorption per unit time is a critical factor for the survival of personnel exposed to a microwave field, a physiological evaluation of the protective clothing system was performed to determine if the clothing itself was responsible for any additional thermal stress in a warm environment. For a series of two-hour periods, two male subjects wearing this clothing in a climatic chamber were exposed to a temperature of 85 degrees F, a relative humidity of 45 percent, a wind velocity of 11.5 mph and a solar radiation of 1.6 gm-Cal/sq m/min. The protective clothing system did not place any significant physiological heat stress on personnel in the warm environment as compared to the wearing of conventional Naval work clothing alone. Visual acuity was decreased slightly. (Author)