METHOD OF IMPREGNATING GARMENTS WITH AN INSECTICIDE

Abstract: This invention is a method of simultaneously and reliably impregnating a plurality of completed garments (10), such as Battle Dress Uniforms, made from conventional fabric with a target amount of permethrin that is within the range established by the Environmental Protective Association, yet effective to provide against insects. The method comprises the steps of providing an industrial washing machine (11), providing a holding tank (13) operably connected to the washing machine (11) for the transfer of liquids to and from the washing machine (11), determining the formula of permethrin and water required to impregnate the fabric of the garments (10) with the target amount of permethrin, providing an adequate quantity of the selected formula in the holding tank (13), operating the washing machine (11) through successive conventional wash and spin cycles with successive loads of garments, and while transferring the selected formula of permethrin and water between the washing machine (11) and holding tank (13) as required for conventional wash and spin cycles of the washing machine (11), without the potentially hazardous release of permethrin to the environment.

Description: i METHOD OF IMPREGNATING GARMENTS 2 WITH AN INSECTICIDE 3 Field of The Invention 4 This invention relates to the treatment of finished garments, such as Battle β Dress Uniforms (BDUs), to repel insects by simultaneously impregnating a plurality β of garments, before or after they are worn, with an insecticide, such as permethrin. 7 Background of The Invention a Permethrin is widely recognized as an effective insecticide. It is also widely g known that the effectiveness of permethrin diminishes with its exposure to oxygen 0 and ultra-violet rays. Permethrin is used on fruit and vegetable crops for control of i insects and is toxic to fish and bees. It is, however, one of the least toxic insecticides 2 to humans and animals. 3 As a precaution to the health of humans who use permethrin-treated 14 garments for protection against insects, the Environmental Protection Agency limits IB the amount of permethrin in clothing outerwear to 1.25 grams of permethrin per l β square meter of fabric. The United States government uses this limited amount of 17 permethrin in selected BDUs for the protection of its troops against disease-bearing lβ insects. 1 The following description of permethrin and its uses is comprised of excerpts 2 from Health Effects of Permethrin-ImOreanated Armι> Rattle-Dress Uniforms, a 3 publication published in 1994 by National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. on the 4 health assessment of wearing BDUs impregnated with permethrin. The assessment B was prepared in the National Research Council by a Subcommittee to Review β Permethrin Toxicity from Military Uniforms. The assessment found that: 7 1. "More active military service days have been lost to diseases - many of 8 them transmitted by insects - than to combat." 9 2. "Controlled experiments in the laboratory and with human volunteers in 10 the field show that clothing impregnated or sprayed with permethrin offers reliable 1 protection against a wide range of vector insects and arthropods, such as 12 mosquitoes, human body lice, tstse flies, and ticks, including Ixodes dammini, the 13 principal vector of Lyme disease and human babesiosis in the United States." 14 3. ". . .the U.S. Army has proposed using permethrin as a clothing is impregnant in battle-dress uniforms (BDUs) to kill or repel insects, ticks, and mites." lβ 4. "To adjust for actual exposure conditions, it was assumed that military 17 personnel would wear the permethrin-treated BDUs 18 hr per day for 10 years 18 during a 75-year lifetime." 19 5. "Adjusting for the proportion of lifetime exposure resulted in a calculated 20 average daily life time dose of 6.8x10 ' mg/kg per day." 1 6. "The average daily lifetime internal dose for garment workers was 2 calculated to be 3.0x10 ' mg/kg bpdy per day less than half the daily dose calculated 3 for military personnel." 4 7. ". . .soldiers who wear permethrin-impregnated BDUs are unlikely to B experience adverse health effects at the suggested permethrin exposure levels (fabric β impregnation concentration of 0.125 mg/cm 2 )." 8. "Treatment at the approved dosage remains effective through 35 8 launderings of the uniform (i.e., beyond the combat life of the uniform) but can be 9 removed by dry cleaning (U.S. Army, 1993)." 10 9. "According to the U.S. Army, application of permethrin to the BDU cloth ii at the time of manufacturing provides the most consistent treatment at the approved 12 dosage and will relieve soldiers from the burden of treating BDUs." 13 10. "EPA-registered aerosol cans of 0.5% permethrin are used by all 14 services." IB 11. "Initial spraying of a BDU with the aerosol formulation provides a lβ permethrin dosage approximately equal to that of an impregnated uniform that has l? been washed 25 times." 18 12. "The Army Clothing and Equipment Board has recommended factory 19 permethrin treatment of all desert BDUs, which are worn by soldiers in such l deployments as the Gulf War or by field units in rapid deployments." s Unpatented Prior Art 3 Faced with the need for protecting the troops and with the need for human 4 and environmental safety, the U.S. Army Engineering & Support Center in e Huntsville, Alabama contracted with Foster Wheeler Environmental Corporation, β 1290 Wall Street West, Lyndhurst, New Jersey 07071 , to prepare a document with a 7 title page containing the format and information which appears on the following a page of this application. 1 "US Army Corps of Engineers 2 Huntsville Division 3 Draft Final 4 Battle Dress Uniform Pesticide β Pretreatment Environmental Assessment 6 Lead Agency - Defense Logistics Agency 7 Department of Defense 8 Cooperating Agencies 9 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CEHNC-PM-ED) 10 U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (MCMR-RCQ-E) 11 U.S. Army Soldier Systems, Command, PM Soldier (SSCPM-LM) 12 Contact for Further Information: 13 Steve Sadler 14 Defense Logistics Agency ie ATTN: DLA-MMSB lβ Cameron Station 17 Alexandria, VA 22304-6100 18 Contract Number DACA87-94-D-0020 Delivery Order 0004 (Annex E) 19 This draft program environmental assessment addresses the potential 20 consequences to the human environment resulting from the factory pretreatment of 21 battle dress uniforms with permethrin. The proposed pretreatment (sic) option is 22 compared to no pesticide treatment and several methods of mechanical and 23 pesticide field treatment currently available. 24 May 1996 2B Prepared by 2β FOSTER WHEELER ENVIRONMENTAL CORPORATION 27 Under Contract to 28 Department of the Army, US Army Engineering & Support Center, Huntsville" 1 Table 1 on page 4 of Foster Wheeler's Battle Dress Uniform Pesticide 2 Pretreatment Environmental Assessment (the BDU Pesticide Assessment) lists eight 3 methods of applying to BDUs the amount of permethrin permitted by the 4 Environmental Protection Agency: 8 1. Individual Dynamic Absorption Application (IDAA) Kits, β 2. Two Gallon Field Sprayer. 7 3. Aerosol Spray Can. 8 4. Aerosol Hand-Held Sprayer. 9 5. Thirty-two Gallon Can/Field Immersion. ιo 6. Field Laundry. ii 7. Pad Roll. 12 8. Hot Dye Bath. 13 The first six methods are used in the field. Only the last two methods (pad roll 14 and h dye bath) are used in factories to apply permethrin to fabric to be. made into ie garments lβ Pages 6-7 of the BDU Pesticide Assessment describe the pad roll method as 17 involving the pretreatment of cloth during its manufacture. The fabric is passed 18 through a permethrin/water bath in a padder, with a target application concentration 19 of 0.125mg/cm . The cloth is then sent through squeeze rolls and dried. 20 Advantages of the pad roll method are (1) this pretreatment is expected to last 21 over the lifetime of the garment, approximately two years; (2) application of 22 permethrin by the pad roll method ensures consistent treatment of the fabric; and (3) 23 the pad roll method is relatively low in cost. 1 The hot dye bath is described at pages 15-16 of the BDU Pesticide 2 Assessment as another industrial method of applying permethrin. The raw fabric is 3 saturated with a permethrin/water formulation bath and passed through a 4 mechanical wringer, a rinse solution and then a second wringer. The cloth is 6 stretched and heat dried. It has proven difficult to attain the target impregnation 6 rate, requiring high concentrations of permethrin. It is also necessary to acidify the 7 solution to increase uptake, which weakens the fabric. Field studies indicate that the 8 hot dye bath method is impracticable and incompatible for treating fabric intended 9 for BDUs. o The sixth method, Field Laundru. is described at page 14 of the BDU i Pesticide Assessment as a method of applying permethrin to BDUs in a standard 2 field laundry unit, described as follows at page 14: 13 /n the field laundry treatment method, BDUs are placed 14 into a standard field laundry washer at 100 F and the 1B permethrin/water formulation (along with glacial acetic lβ acid for the 50/50 nylon/cotton fabric only) is added. The ι 7 washer is run for five minutes at 140 F, and then 18 continued at 170 F for an additional sixty minutes. The 19 BDUs are rinsed well and hung to dry. T\ p . field laundr y 30 ins inefficient, impractical, and costlu durin g testin g . The 21 m#thnd results in unpredictable ηηd r\cm-ιmiform 22 applications, with concentrations below the, tar g et level of 23 n 19R ma/cm 2 . Less than 20 percent of the yermethrin in 4 ftp tnnter bath deposits on the BDU fabric. Due to this 28 i / πpredictabi/itu. standard amount'; of permethrin for 1 application in the process cannot be developed. In 2 addition, no drums, barrels or pots are available at the 3 field laundries in which to do a large-scale treatment. 4 Field laundries are rarely used in peacetime and the 6 laundry units are generally in crates ready for emergency β shipment only. Personnel at the field laundries would be 7 negatively impacted if treatment were to occur there. 8 While the solid waste concerns in using this field 9 method are not as great as with individual treatment 10 methods, the potential for permethrin loss to the ii environment mav be high. Only 20 percent of the 12 pesticide in the treatment water bath is deposited onto the 13 BDUs. Improper disposal of the water could result in 14 impacts to aquatic invertebrate, insect and other species IB and contamination of local water bodies. lβ (Emphasis added). 17 Notwithstanding the disappointing results obtained in field laundries, the lβ addition of permethrin to BDUs in an industrial washing machine, according to the 19 present invention, consistently results in the application of permethrin to successive 20 loads of garments at the target level of 0.125 mg/cm , and without any loss of 21 permethrin to the environment. 22 The Patented Prior Art 23 The patented prior art discloses several ways of applying permethrin to 24 fabric. See, for example: 28 Patent No. 5,089,298 issued February 18, 1992 to McNally et al. for 26 SYNERGISTIC EFFECT OF AMYLOPECTIN-PERMETHRIN IN COMBINATION 27 ON TEXTILE FABRICS; 1 Patent No. 5,198,287 issued March 30, 1993 to Samson, et al. for 2 INSECT REPELLENT TENT FABRIC; 3 Patent No. 5,252,387 issued October 12, 1993 to Samson et al. for 4 FABRICS WITH INSECT REPELLENT AND A BARRIER; 8 Patent No. 5,503,918issued April 2, 1996 to Samson et al. for Θ METHOD AND MEANS FOR RETAINING PERMETHRIN IN WASHABLE 7 FABRICS; and 8 Patent No. 5,631,072 issued May 20, 1997 to Samson et al. for 9 METHOD AND MEANS FOR INCREASING EFFICACY AND WASH DURABILITY 10 OF INSECTICIDE TREATED FABRIC. ii All of the foregoing patents, except Patent No. 5,089,298 to McNally et al., 12 teach the application of permethrin to fabric at the factory making the fabric, before 13 the fabric is formed into garments. Only the McNally patent teaches the application 14 of permethrin to fabric after the fabric has been formed into a garment. IB The manufacturers of BDUs and other garments have expressed concern that lβ the toxic nature of permethrin endangers the health of those workers who are 17 exposed to permethrin over a period of time by making garments from permethrin- 18 treated fabric day in and day out. This concern has generated interest in 19 manufacturing garments, such as BDUs, in the usual manner and putting 20 permethrin in selected garments after they are manufactured. 21 McNally, et al. teaches the application of permethrin to individual Battle 22 Dress Uniforms (BDUs) by the Individual Dynamic Absorption Application (IDAA) 1 procedure. The IDAA enables military personnel to treat their own BDU with 2 relatively simple equipment and in emergency situations. 3 McNally teaches in column 3, beginning in line 16, that it is not advisable to 4 add permethrin to a laundry cycle: B since such an application of Permethrin into the machine 6 would constitute a waste of the Permethrin and, more important, could create a potentially dangerous effluent 8 that might find its way to a stream or other places 9 inhabited by fish. 10 According to the present invention, permethrin is consistently added to ii successive loads of BDUs in an industrial washing machine at the target rate of 12 1.25 grams of permethrin per square meter of textile material (1.25 g/m 13 permethrin). The permethrin is consistently added to the garments in this manner 14 without endangering the environment. IB Summary of The Invention lβ This invention comprises a method of simultaneously and reliably 17 impregnating a plurality of garments, such as BDUs, made from conventional 18 fabric with an effective amount of permethrin to provide protection against insects. 19 The garments are impregnated with permethrin by placing a plurality of fully 20 completed garments in an industrial washing machine and washing the garments 1 in a permethrin solution of predetermined strength. 2 Initially, steps are taken to determine the amount of permethrin that is 3 needed to put in the washing machine to result in the fabric of the garments 4 absorbing no more than the Environmental Protection Agency's target amount of B 1.25 grams of permethrin per square meter of fabric (1.25 g/m permethrin). After β determining the amount of permethrin to be used, that amount of permethrin is 7 mixed with a suitable amount of water in a holding tank. The garments are then 8 loaded into an industrial washer having a rotatable drum. The permethrin solution 9 of predetermined strength is pumped from the holding tank to the washer for a 10 wash cycle. After the wash cycle, the permethrin solution is pumped from the ii washer back to the holding tank. The garments in the washer are then subjected 12 to a spin cycle to remove excess permethrin solution from the garments. The 13 extracted liquid is also pumped to the holding tank. The garments are then dried 14 in conventional tumble dryers, and the process is repeated as often as needed. IB Tests have shown that successive loads of garments can be treated in this lβ fashion and each garment will reliably contain permethrin within the maximum 17 allowance of 1.25 g/m permethrin, established by the Environmental Protection is Agency. 1 Brief Description of The Drawings 2 Figure 1 is a schematic view of a plurality of garments, manufactured in a 3 conventional manner, to be treated with permethrin; 4 Figure 2 is a schematic view of an industrial-size washing machine B communicatively connected with a holding tank for a solution of permethrin of θ predetermined strength; and 7 Figure 3 is a schematic view of an industrial-size tumble dryer. 8 Detailed Description of The Invention 9 According to the invention, permethrin is added to a plurality of garments, 10 broadly indicated at 10, in an industrial washing machine 11, but before either the 11 garments or the permethrin is put in the washing machine, the fabric of the 12 garments is examined to determine the amount of permethrin to be used for the 13 garments to absorb no more than 1.25 grams of permethrin per square meter of 14 fabric, the target rate of permethrin established by the Environmental Protective IB Agency. As used herein the term "garments" includes but is not limited to Battle lβ Dress Uniforms (BDUs). 17 It is known that different types of fabric absorb different amounts of liquid. 18 The percentage of absorption is based on dry fabric weight, and the absorption 1 process is commonly referred to as wet percent pick-up in the textile trade. Twill 2 fabric is commonly used in BDUs and other garments and will be used as an 3 example in describing the invention. 4 Example B The permethrin used in this example is PERMANONE 40, having 40% β permethrin as an active ingredient. PERMANONE 40 is manufactured by AgrEvo, a company of Hoechst and Schering in Berlin, Germany and having a place of 8 business known as AgrEvo Environmental Health at 95 Chestnut Ridge Road, 9 Montvale, New Jersey 07645. 10 PERMANONE 40 is an emulsifiable concentrate that is cut with water to get ii the amount of permethrin needed for the type and weight of fabric in like garments 12 to be treated. As used herein, the term "like garments" means garments of the 13 same style, such as BDUs. 14 The first step in practicing the invention is to determine the.weight of the IB fabric used in making like garments that are to be treated with permethrin. Twill lβ fabric weighs 247.47 grams per square meter. One test sample of the like 17 garments to be treated with permethrin is weighed. The test sample weighs 1,405 18 grams when dry. The test sample is then put in a wash cycle run for five minutes and stopped. The liquid is pumped from the washer and a spin cycle is applied for ten minutes with the extractive liquid removed by a pump 12. The test sample is removed and weighed while wet. The weight increased from 1,405 grams dry weight to 2,073 grams wet weight. The formula weight applied to the test sample is the difference between the 2,073 grams wet weight and the 1,405 grams dry weight, or 668 grams. The wet percent pickup can then be obtained by dividing the dry weight of the test sample (1,405 grams) into the formula weight (668 grams). 668 ÷ 1,405 = 47.54 wet percent pickup of the test sample. The formula deposition will be 47.54% of the dry weight of the fabric (247.47 grams per square meter in the test sample), or 117.65 grams per square meter. The total formula deposition is 117.65 grams per square meter, but the target deposition of permethrin on the fabric is only 1.25 grams per square metes of fabric. The percentage of permethrin needed to get the target deposition of 1.25 grams of permethrin per square meter of fabric is obtained by dividing the formula deposition of 117.65 grams of permethrin into the target deposition of 1.25 grams of permethrin. 1.25 ÷ 117.65 = 1.06%. The formula consists of only permethrin and water. Having determined that 1.06% of the formula is permethrin, it follows that 98.94% of the formula is water; thus the formula for this example is 98.94 pounds of water and 1.06 pounds of permethrin. Using the commercially available PERMANONE 40, with its 40% concentration of permethrin, the formula in this example is 97.35 pounds of water and 2.65 pounds of PERMANONE 40. Continuing the example, a holding tank 13 is filled with a solution containing 97.35 pounds of water and 2.65 pounds of PERMANONE 40. The washing machine 11 is a Milnor industrial washer having a drum D. The washer 11 is filled with like garments 10, made from twill fabric weighing 247.47 grams per square meter. The pump 12 moves an adequate supply of permethrin solution from the holding tank 13 to the washer 11. A wash action cycle is run for five minutes, then stopped. The permethrin solution extracted from the garments is returned by the pump 12 to the holding tank 13. The garments 10 in the washer 11 are subjected to a spin cycle for ten minutes to extract liquid from the garments. The garments are then removed from the washer and dried in a conventional tumble dryer 14. The liquid extracted from the garments is removed from the washer 11 by the pump 12 and returned to the holding tank 13, where it remains until pumped back to the washer to impregnate more like garments with the target amount of permethrin. There is thus provided a novel method of reliably impregnating finished garments at the factory with the target amount of permethrin approved by the EPA, thereby effectively providing protection from insects to the wearers of the garments. This protection is provided without endangering the environment, and without exposing the garment workers to any deleterious effects of permethrin. Although specific terms have been used in describing the invention, they have been used in a descriptive and generic sense only and not for the purpose of limitation.

Claims: We Claim: 1 1. The method of reliably impregnating garments with an amount of 2 permethrin that is within the target amount of 1.25 grams of permethrin per square 3 meter of fabric, yet sufficient to provide protection against insects, said method 4 comprising the steps of: B providing a washing machine having a rotatable drum; β providing a holding tank operably connected to the washing machine 7 for the transfer of liquids to and from the washing machine; a providing a supply of permethrin and a supply of water; 9 providing a first group of like garments made from the same fabric; 10 determining the formula of permethrin and water required to ii impregnate the fabric of the garments with the target amount of permethrin; 12 mixing the required formula of permethrin and water in the holding 13 tank; 14 loading the first group of like garments in the washing machine; lβ transferring the formulated permethrin and water from the holding lβ tank to the washing machine; 17 initiating and then stopping a wash cycle in the washing machine; 18 transferring the formulated permethrin and water back to the holding tank after the wash cycle; initiating a spin cycle of the rotatable drum in the washing machine; extracting some of the formulated permethrin and water from the first group of garments during the spin cycle; and transferring the formulation of permethrin and water extracted from the first group of garments during the spin cycle to the holding tank. 2. The invention of Claim 1 which includes the following additional steps: providing a dryer; and transferring the garments from the washing machine to the dryer after the spin cycle of the washing machine. 3. The invention of Claim 2 wherein successive groups of like garments made from the same fabric are impregnated with the same formula of permethrin and water as used with the first group of like garments and with the same sequence of steps recited in Claim 1. 4. The invention of Claim 1 wherein the determination of the formula of permethrin and water includes the steps of: determining the formula weight of the fabric in the first group of garments; and determining the wet percent pick-up of said fabric.

Inventors: MCKINNEY JAMES M, SAMSON RICHARD D, MCKINNEY, JAMES, M., SAMSON, RICHARD, D.
Applicants: AVONDALE MILLS INC, MCKINNEY JAMES M, SAMSON RICHARD D, AVONDALE MILLS, INC., MCKINNEY, JAMES, M., SAMSON, RICHARD, D.
Application year: 1998
Main classification: B32B7
IPC codes: D06B3, D06B5, D06B9, D06M13, D06M23