Company insight Contamination control


Now more than ever, having a floor-level contamination control plan is key, as 80% of particulates are said to enter critical environments via feet and wheels. Dycem provides a world-leading solution for controlled environments; long-lasting, polymeric contamination control flooring and mats. Dycem is committed to helping companies avoid the risks that floor contamination can pose.


medical device manufacturer, operating in a cleanroom environment evaluated polymeric floor coverings in comparison to peel-off “sticky mats” that were previously being used. Peel-off mats were used to capture dirt from “street shoes” upon entering the gowning room. The facility where the tests were conducted spent an average of $24,000 on peel-off mats and disposed of approximately one tonne (2,028lbs) of used plastic sheets per annum.


A


Types of cleanroom mats Adhesive peel-off mats consist of layers of plastic sheets or polythene film, each coated with an acrylic adhesive. When walking across the mat, the surface is “sticky” and is intended to remove contamination from the sole of the shoe. Adhesive mats are disposable and, after a period of use, the top layer is removed from the stack and discarded. The frequency in which the top layer needs removing varies between organisations, depending on factors such as rate of saturation and foot traffic.


Bio Products Laboratory. The benefits of the Dycem material are:


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reduction of harmful particulate in the gowning room


improved product yields reduced product rejects reduced expenses


more sustainable solution reduced cleaning costs


The results from using Dycem’s polymeric flooring have shown: ■


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airborne particles in the growing room were reduced by 75%


up to 99.9% of foot and wheel-borne contamination was captured and retained (Caroline Clibbon, 2002)


CleanZone by Dycem is a reusable, 99.9% effective, floor-level contamination control solution for every industry and controlled environment.


product life span of three to five years. During that period, the


“Polymeric solutions offer advantages for particle level cleanliness in terms of removal of particles from footwear and avoiding the particle generation that arises from the peeling of adhesive mats.”


Tim Sandle, Bio Products Laboratory


Polymeric flooring is manufactured from a non-toxic, plasticised material. The flooring has a natural tack, which enables the attraction and retention of particulate contamination on its surface, and short- wave electromagnetic forces bind particles to the surface.


Opportunities for improvement Dycem polymeric flooring was identified as an alternative to peel-off mats and is easily cleaned, with a


comparative cost of peel-off mats would be at least $72,000. Dycem mats and flooring also contain BioMaster, an antimicrobial additive that inhibits the growth of microbes by up to 99.9%.


“Polymeric solutions offer advantages for particle level cleanliness in terms of removal of particles from footwear and avoiding the particle generation which arises from the peeling of adhesive mats,” says Tim Sandle of


World Pharmaceutical Frontiers / www.worldpharmaceuticals.net


In summary, use of Dycem material brings the following benefits:


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Cost savings due to the three to five-year life of the polymeric floor coverings. An average of $80,000 will have been saved in one year over purchasing peel-off mats.


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Time saving, as custodians report a time saving of two hours per day due to not having to peel and dispose of peel-off mats.


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Size, as it takes a total of six footfalls or three full wheel rotations to remove up to 99.9% of contamination.


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The material is supple, conforming to shoe and wheel profiles to collect particles between 0.1 and >100 microns.


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A greener solution due to significant reduction of plastic disposal – more than one tonne of plastic per year will not be going into landfill. ●


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