According to Trelleborg Group, an advanced polymers & solutions supplier based in Sweden,
Germany fire and rescue department Hamburg Feuerwehr has upgraded to Trellchem EVO suit from Trelleborg Protective Products as their standard type 1a (Level A), fully encapsulated chemical protective suit for first responders and will also have Trellchem EVO type 1b suits in service.
Trellchem EVO suit is a reusable, single skin, one layer suit made of a new garment material developed and produced by Trelleborg Protective Products. It is a combination of specialized rubber and polymer barrier laminates, together with a special woven fabric that forms a strong and flexible material, offering chemical resistance properties in combination with resistance to chemical flash fire, liquefied (cryogenic) gases, abrasion, punctures, tears etc, the company stated.
Standard features include fogless lens, Trellchem bayonet glove ring system and high impact resistant visor with tear-off lens to protect the visor from scratches. Trellchem EVO type 1b suits have the SCBA (Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus) carried outside of the suit.
In addition, Trellchem EVO can be donned quickly as it has only a single layer, while the built-in flash protection along with abrasion resistance allows Hamburg Feuerwehr’s responders to perform their jobs with greater functionality and safety.
As said in the press release, the Trellchem EVO suit material and seams have successfully performed in chemical permeation resistance tests (permeation rate: 0.1 microgram per sq cm and minute) with the 20 industrial test chemicals that are the most hazardous and aggressive listed in EN 943:2 and in the American standard NFPA 1991. The test regime was undertaken for 24 hours, which is well in excess of the traditional test length of eight hours.
Trellchem EVO has full certification to EN 943:2 (edition 2002). The material and complete suits are also compliant to numerous other standards and regulations. These include antistatic (electrostatic dissipative) requirements for garments set out in EN 1149-5 as well as the antistatic (electrostatic dissipative) requirements for use in explosive atmospheres of “ATEX” European directive 94/9/EC and EN 13463 Part 1. It meets the requirements set out in EN 1073-2 for protection against radioactive particles and those in EN 14126 for protection against bio-hazards/infective agents, and is also fully certified to the stringent American standard NFPA 1991 (edition 2005), including the Chemical Flash Fire & Liquefied Gas protection options.
