Designing surgical clothing and drapes according to the new technical standards

Hospitals will continue to be the largest consumers of disposables, because of the diverse range of procedures they provide. Favourable growth is forecast for non‐wovens. Increasing concern over contamination and nosocomial infections will boost the demand for consumable and disposable surgical gowns and drapes. But, until now neither the manufacturers nor the end users of surgical gowns and drapes could agree on standards. So, a mandatory European standard is being developed to establish basic requirements and test methods for disposable and reusable materials used for surgical gowns and drapes. Once this standard has been adopted, the continued use of cotton textiles and conventional cotton‐polyester mixed textiles will become questionable.