scope:

This Recommended Practice (RP) addresses the gowning of personnel as an important aspect of cleanroom contamination control. It provides nonmandatory guidance for the selection, specification, maintenance, and testing of apparel and accessories appropriate for use in nonaseptic and aseptic cleanrooms and other controlled environments.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The design phase of any contamination control program should consider the effects of contamination from all sources. Personnel and their activities are one of the major sources of contamination. Therefore, specification and use of an appropriate gowning system is essential in limiting the elements of humangenerated contamination from reaching and affecting product or processes in the cleanroom.

This RP is intended to assist the end user, system designer, supplier, and processor in defining required performance criteria, test methods, and procedures for gowning system use and maintenance, as well as in developing a quality control plan for the apparel and accessories that may be included in the system. The RP identifies garment-related factors that may influence the performance of cleanrooms. This RP covers selection, construction, material characteristics, performance, laundering, maintenance, validation, and documentation, as well as test methods that can be used in evaluating relevant properties for cleanroom applications.