Application of Fluorescent Aerosols to Verifying the Leakage of Protective Clothing by Image Processing

Abstract

This work aims to measure the leakage of the personal protective equipment by using the fluorescent aerosol tracer. The fluorescent aerosols were employed as airborne particulates in a controlled chamber with ultraviolet (UV) light-detectable stickers. After an exposure and leakage test, the protective equipment was removed and photographed with UV-scanning to evaluate areas and color depth ratio of the areas where fluorescent aerosols had adhered to the body through the protective equipment. An image processor installed with an entropy-based algorithm was developed to segment the fluorescent area and calculate its relative leakage ratio (Lr) in real time. This study shows that the total leakage rate of the K brand protective clothing is 2.04 × 10-4 in two repetitions, and its 10- repetition total leakage rate is about 3.15×10-3. The two-repetition total leakage rate of the P brand protective clothing is about 2.47×10-4, and its 10 repetition total leakage rate is about 4.79×10-3. The two-repetition total leakage rate of the W brand protective clothing is about 1.04×10-4, and its 10-repetition total leakage rate is about 4.68×10-3.