Moisture and Sweat Effects on Thermal Protection
topic
Moisture in firefighter clothing from sweat accumulation and water exposure during firefighting reduces thermal insulation by increasing fabric thermal conductivity as water displaces insulating air within fibre and fabric structures, with the simultaneous hazard that stored moisture flash-vaporises on sudden high-heat exposure delivering concentrated burn injury through rapid steam generation at the skin surface, making wet clothing performance characterisation essential for realistic protective performance assessment.
Role
Identifies the performance degradation mechanism that makes wet firefighter clothing significantly less protective than dry clothing test results indicate, requiring wet conditioning protocols in some test standards to characterise realistic in-service performance, and guiding moisture management strategies in clothing design that balance breathability for sweat evaporation against moisture barrier protection against external water and steam ingress.
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