About contamination
80%
80% of contamination enters critical environments via feet or wheels
27%
Only 27% of contamination is prevented by peel-off mats
215K
215,000 particles released with every step
Contamination is a major and growing concern in cleanrooms, critical areas and controlled environments, from facilities for pharmaceutical, automotive and semiconductor manufacturing to food processing units and data storage centers. Although contamination from foot, wheel and airborne particles is often dismissed as simply ‘dust’ or ‘dirt’, the dangers it poses can be devastating. Contamination in a critical environment can have a major impact on quality, product yield, effectiveness and profitability.
The visible and invisible enemy
Particulate contaminants in critical areas are known to adversely affect quality, product yield, operational effectiveness and profitability. Particles can be viable or non-viable, made from different materials, come from different places and travel large distances
Particles outside the critical area can also be a potential problem, especially the small, light, invisible particles. Even fairly large particles that have settled on the floor are easily crushed into very small particles and redistributed back into the air. These airborne particles then get transferred into the critical area where they present a potential hazard.
There are two main types of particle contamination:
External
Gross atmospheric contamination, which infiltrates your facility.
Internal
Humans can generate 5-10 million skin, hair and dirt, and clothing particles every minute.
Key properties of fine particles: