Over time, protective clothing has developed to play an increasingly important role in technical textiles. As our day-to-day environments and industries continue to evolve, the risks and potential hazards that can be faced by individuals at their place of work have also changed. Today, hazards that we can be exposed to are often so specialised that it is not possible for one single type of clothing to provide the required level of protection. Therefore, extensive research and development is now taking place to develop protective clothing for civilians, as well as specialised occupations, to provide protection from hazards such as heat and flame, chemicals, mechanical resistance, and ballistic protection etc. Innovation and market opportunities exist across various levels of the personal protective wear supply and value chain for all types of protective clothing, driven by several demand factors.

This report will provide an overview of chemical protective clothing. It defines and outlines different types of chemical protective clothing, its materials and its selection process. It also takes a brief look at the chemical protective clothing market and its growing end-use industries.