NC_temp170: Personal Protective Technologies for Current and Emerging Occupational and Environmental Hazards
(Multistate Research Project)
Status: Draft Project
NC_temp170: Personal Protective Technologies for Current and Emerging Occupational and Environmental Hazards
Duration: 10/01/2027 to 09/30/2032
Administrative Advisor(s):
NIFA Reps:
Non-Technical Summary
Statement of Issues and Justification
Statement of Issues and Justification
Need for the Research as Indicated by Stakeholders
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is essential for protecting individuals from occupational and environmental hazards in agriculture, firefighting, emergency response, healthcare, manufacturing, and other high-risk environments. However, PPE must provide effective protection while meeting users' needs for thermal comfort, fit, mobility, durability, and functionality. Emerging occupational hazards and advances in wearable technologies create additional challenges for protective equipment design and performance.
Research conducted through NC-170 has identified stakeholder concerns related to protective clothing fit and functionality, as well as the comfort, breathability, washability, reliability, and usability of wearable technologies. These findings demonstrate the need for protective equipment that addresses both hazard protection and the practical requirements of users. Integrating textile-based sensors into PPE offers opportunities to detect environmental hazards and monitor physiological responses, including heat stress and physical strain. However, these technologies must function reliably without compromising protection, comfort, or usability.
Importance of the Work and Consequences if Not Conducted
Protective equipment must balance protection against occupational hazards with the physiological demands placed on the wearer. Materials that restrict heat dissipation, breathability, or mobility may increase physiological strain and fatigue, particularly during physically demanding activities or prolonged exposure to extreme temperatures. Protective materials and garment designs that support thermoregulation may reduce the physiological effort required to maintain thermal balance, potentially allowing individuals to sustain physical activity and work performance more effectively.
Without continued research, important gaps will remain in understanding how protective materials, wearable sensors, garment design, and environmental conditions interact to influence safety and human performance. Additionally, existing testing methods may not adequately evaluate the performance of emerging smart PPE systems or the relationships among protection, thermal comfort, durability, and physiological responses. These limitations could hinder the development, evaluation, and adoption of protective technologies that effectively address occupational hazards and user needs.
Technical Feasibility of the Research
NC-170 researchers have established expertise and specialized laboratory capabilities in textile science, materials engineering, protective clothing, wearable sensing technologies, occupational exposure assessment, and human performance evaluation. Research conducted during the current project period has demonstrated the development of conductive textiles and wearable sensing systems, evaluation of protective material performance, investigation of firefighter exposure hazards, and assessment of PPE fit and functionality. These accomplishments provide a strong technical foundation for continued research on smart PPE systems and materials designed to improve thermophysiological performance.
Advantages of a Multistate Approach
Developing and evaluating advanced PPE requires expertise and testing capabilities that extend beyond those typically available at a single institution. NC-170 combines complementary strengths in textile materials, wearable sensors, protective clothing design, thermal and moisture management, occupational exposure assessment, and physiological evaluation. This collaboration enables researchers to examine protective equipment from material development through product performance and interactions with the human body.
Existing collaborations, including research involving North Carolina State University and Florida State University on firefighter PPE for female users, demonstrate the value of combining institutional expertise. Researchers from Oklahoma State University, Texas Christian University, North Carolina State University, and Washington State University are also planning collaborative research on thermoregulation among ranch hands and cowboys. The multistate structure additionally provides opportunities to refine testing approaches, compare findings across laboratories, and generate evidence that may inform future PPE testing protocols and standards.
Likely Impacts of Successfully Completing the Research
Successful completion of this research is expected to advance the development and evaluation of protective materials and smart PPE systems that better address occupational hazards and user needs. Integrated sensing technologies may improve the detection of hazardous conditions and monitoring of physiological strain, supporting more informed decisions about worker safety. Improvements in thermophysiological performance may reduce fatigue and support sustained physical activity, potentially improving worker comfort, safety, and productivity.
The research also aligns with USDA priorities to increase profitability for farmers and ranchers and expand markets and create new uses for U.S. agricultural products. Improved agricultural workwear may support greater work efficiency and sustained productivity by reducing physiological strain associated with challenging environmental conditions. Research involving cotton, cellulose, and other agricultural or biobased materials may also identify higher-value applications in protective textiles. Through interdisciplinary and multistate collaboration, NC-170 supports the broader USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) mission by advancing occupational safety, strengthening the well-being of agricultural and rural communities, and generating research-based knowledge that can benefit agricultural workers, manufacturers, and other stakeholders.
The resulting knowledge may support improved PPE design, material selection, and performance evaluation while providing manufacturers, occupational safety professionals, and standards organizations with evidence to inform protective equipment development and testing. Ultimately, this research has the potential to improve protection, comfort, and functional performance for workers across agricultural, emergency response, industrial, and other occupational environments.
Related, Current and Previous Work
Objectives
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Develop and evaluate textile-based/wearable smart PPE systems to meet users’ needs and detect environmental conditions and occupational hazards.
Comments: Developing and evaluating textile-based wearable and sustainable/reusable sensing technologies for improving PPE that can monitor health conditions, environmental conditions and hazards. The outcome of the prototype of the new technologies will enhance users’ performance and improve safety. Specifically, the sensors will target physical and physiological strains and environmental conditions such as heat stress, thermal, chemical, biological, ionizing radiation hazards. -
Develop and evaluate PPE materials and wearable products for optimized thermophysiological performance, including heat transfer, breathability, and moisture management.
Comments: Using current and emerging materials for PPE development for optimizing human performance in relation to environmental conditions and occupational hazards. Develop standardized evaluation methods for thermal physiological performance of PPE materials and wearables in occupational environments.