2006 Dorman Havenith et al Modelling metabolic effects of clothing Nokobetef.pdf (3.02 MB)
Modelling the metabolic effects of protective clothing
conference contribution
posted on 2013-11-28, 09:57 authored by Lucy E. Dorman, George Havenith, Peter Broede, Victor Candas, Emiel A. den Hartog, Ingvar Holmer, Harriet Meinander, Wolfgang Nocker, Mark RichardsProtective clothing is worn in many industrial and military situations. Although worn for protection
from one or more hazards, protective clothing can add significantly to the metabolic (energy) cost of
work. Suggestions put forward as to the mechanisms behind the observed increases include, the
additional clothing weight of the protective garments, possible friction between the number of layers
that must be worn and restriction of movement due to clothing bulk. However, despite much
speculation, these areas have not received much investigation.
Wearing protective clothing from a range of industries and with quite different characteristics for
example weight, bulk and stiffness significantly increased metabolic rate when walking, stepping and
completing an obstacle course activity. Increases in the metabolic rate of up to 20% above control
conditions (lightweight tracksuit and trainers worn) were seen. A number of clothing properties were
then investigated to try and understand the causes of these recorded metabolic rate increases. Clothing
bulk was measured at 3 sites, upper arm, torso and thigh. The stiffness of the clothing was also
calculated, using a method which measured the clothing drape of the sleeve, main body of the garment
and trouser leg.
A multiple regression carried out on the data showed body weight to be the best predictor of absolute
metabolic increases across all work modes. For the % increase in metabolic rate total clothing weight
was the best predictor. Torso bulk was negatively correlated with the increased metabolic rate for
walking and stepping and the overall average, whereas leg bulk was a significant predictor of an
increased stepping metabolic rate and leg stiffness a significant predictor for the obstacle course work
mode.
Funding
This work was funded as European Union GROWTH programme project “THERMPROTECT, Assessment of Thermal Properties of Protective Clothing and Their Use”, contract G6RD-CT-2002-00846.
History
School
- Design
Citation
DORMAN, L. ... et al, 2006. Modelling the metabolic effects of protective clothing. 3rd European Conference on Protective Clothing (ECPC), Central Institute for Labour Protection - National Research Institute, Poland, 10th-12th May 2006, pp.Publisher
© the authorsVersion
- VoR (Version of Record)
Publication date
2006Notes
This is a conference paper.ISBN
8373730974Publisher version
Language
- en