Fire-Retardant Gloves

Fire-retardant gloves are required use for NASCAR drivers. Fire-retardant wear protects drivers from severe burns. "One piece suits with NOMEXŽ underwear, fire resistant gloves, shoes and neck braces, are recommended." NOMEXŽ is versatile, can be combined with other fire retardant materials, and is recommended by NASCAR because of its TPP (Thermal Protective Performance) rating, and TDT (Thermal Damage Tolerance ).

The TPP rating of a fabric refers to the characteristics of thermal insulation when protecting a driver from fire. TPP is measured using both "flame and radiant heat sources with a heat flux of 2 cal/cm2-sec. The time required to reach the equivalent of a second-degree burn at the calorimeter on the other side of the sample is recorded. This time (in seconds), multiplied by the heat flux of the exposure, gives the TPP rating. The higher the TPP rating, the more protection a fabric or composite provides the wearer."

Thermal Damage Tolerance is a measure of the stability of any fabric after exposure to flames. After a fabric is exposed to flames, a material will either "break open, form a hard char or remain flexible." Fabrics made from NOMEXŽ will form a "flexible char when exposed to flame; upon cooling, the char will harden."

Gloves made from NOMEXŽ are made by many manufacturers and can be purchased under many trade names. For more information on industry trade names and manufacturers visit: http://www.dupont.com/nomex/firefighterprotection/industrytradenames.html.

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