New cleanroom standard from BSI

Published: 17-Aug-2006


BSI has published an important new standard for cleanrooms and other controlled environments: BS EN ISO 14644-8:2006, 'Cleanrooms and associated controlled environments. Classification of air-borne molecular contamination.'

The standard concerns air-borne molecular contamination (AMC) in terms of air-borne concentrations of specific chemical substances (individual, group or category). It presents a protocol to include test methods, analysis and time weighted factors within the specification for classification.

BS EN ISO 14644-8 recognises AMC as an event that occurs in three steps. The first is generation due to external sources, process leakage or construction or human material outgassing. The second step is transport as AMC in air. The third step is sorption on the sensitive surface, that can be quantified as a surface molecular contamination (SMC).

In other parts of the new standard, the design, specification, operation and control of cleanrooms and other controlled environments are considered in some detail.

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