Managing cleanrooms and controlled environments

In industries where the manufacture or handling of items such as medical devices and microelectronic products, requires high levels of contamination control and classification of even the smallest particle or airborne molecular contaminant - a pristine cleanroom environment is required.

Cleanrooms are enclosed spaces where the air quality is managed to reduce dust, microbes, and other airborne contaminants to minimal levels.

To support the management and control of such environments, BSI announces the publication of a new standard.

An important new BSI Standard - BS EN ISO 14664-8:2006 NEW BS EN ISO 14644-8:2006 Cleanrooms and associated controlled environments.

Classification of airborne molecular contamination covers the classification of airborne molecular contamination (AMC) in cleanrooms and associated controlled environments, in terms of airborne concentrations of specific chemical substances (individual, group or category).

It provides a protocol to include test methods, analysis and time weighted factors within the specification for classification.

Within this part of BS EN ISO 14644, the presence of airborne molecules is expressed as airborne molecular contamination (AMC).

Molecular contamination is a three-step event.

The first step 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, which can be quantified as a surface molecular contamination (SMC).

ISBN 0 580 48299 5.

BS EN ISO 14644-8:2006 is one of a series of standards concerned with cleanrooms and contamination control.

Many factors besides AMC need to be considered in the design, specification, operation and control of cleanrooms and other controlled environments.

These are covered in some detail in other parts to the standard.