Effect of the cooling clothing integrating with phase change material on the thermal comfort of healthcare workers with personal protective equipment during the COVID-19

Abstract

Wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is essential to protect healthcare workers during the COVID-19, but the traditional cooling methods do not meet the requirements of epidemic prevention during the COVID-19. Therefore, the cooling clothing integrated with phase change material (PCM-CC) was proposed for healthcare workers performing nucleic acid sample collection outdoors. Human experiments and subjective questionnaires were used to test the effect of wearing PCM-CC on the thermal sensations of healthcare workers and to analyze the effectiveness of PCM-CC in relieving thermal stress and thereby, improving the thermal comfort of healthcare workers. Results showed that wearing PCM-CC was effective in alleviating various heat symptoms associated with wearing PPE in a hot-temperature environment. Wearing PCM-CC reduced head and facial discomfort by 25% and 41% under the 26 °C thermal environment, while it improved the mean thermal sensation vote (TSV) values by 0.71 and 1.85 under the 26 °C and 32 °C thermal environments, respectively, and made the mean TSV value close to the neutral value. Meanwhile, wearing PCM-CC reduced mean skin temperatures by 0.65 °C, and the pronounced cooling effect was found in the chest. Wearing PCM-CC could be an effective thermoregulation measure to refine the thermal comfort of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: Healthcare workers; Personal protective equipment; Phase change material; Thermal comfort.

Fig. 1

The Cooling Clothing with Phase Change Material (PCM-CC) and wearing photo.

Fig. 2

Schematic diagram of the skin parameter measurement points and experimental photo.

Fig. 3

The questionnaire table of human thermal comfort.

Fig. 4

(a) Distribution of body discomfort sites and (b) discomfort symptoms in participants.

Fig. 5

Overall and local thermal sensation vote (TSV) under two thermal environment conditions.

Fig. 6

Distribution of (a) thermal preference and (b) under two thermal environment conditions. Significance (p-value) was reported by using t-test (***p < 0.01).

Fig. 7

Distribution of thermal comfort under two thermal environment conditions. Significance (p-value) was reported by using t-test (***p < 0.01).

Fig. 8

Voting distribution on the acceptance of PCM-CC under the 26 °C and 32 °C thermal environments. Significance (p-value) was reported by using t-test (*p < 0.1).