Difference Between DuPont Tyvek 400 vs DuPont Proshield 50 Coverall

In the year 2022 Dupont de Nemours Inc has two leading personal protective equipment - Tyvek 400 and Proshield 50 - each of these flame-resistant clothing is crucial for worker safety.

Safety for employees has become one of the most important aspects of any modern workplace. Regardless of industry or sector, ensuring that the workplace provides the right safety and security to its employees is something that all organizations are now concentrating on. A safe working environment boosts employee productivity and creates an overall impression that the company cares for its employees. This impression goes a long way when it comes to a worker’s commitment and loyalty toward the company. While these are long-term gains, workplace safety is a daily challenge that all employers must provide to their employees. This is even more important in workplaces where employees work in challenging conditions and with materials and processes that can harm or injure them. Most commonly, production units, construction sites, hospitals, chemical plants, industries dealing with bio-hazardous products, etc. are required to provide their workers protective clothing and other personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect them from getting harmed at the workplace. While it is nearly impossible to completely eliminate the possibility of injury, it is surely possible to protect the workers by providing them with protective gear like PPE kits and coveralls. This protective clothing ensures that the workers are at minimum risk of getting severely injured. They reduce the impact of an accident by creating a barrier between the hazard and the worker.

Did you know?

Numerous healthcare and pharmaceutical facilities depended highly on DuPont Personal Protection to supply Tyvek® coveralls as well as other disposables to ensure that the demands for sterile cleanroom clothing and disposables were met!

[caption id="attachment_3378" align="aligncenter" width="496"] DuPont TY120SWH Tyvek 400 Coverall[/caption] In most workplaces, the obvious dangers are quite visible and easy to tackle. It is the hidden and non-obvious kinds of hazards like flammable vapors or combustible dust that pose a bigger challenge. Such hazards can be minimized by wearing these protective gear. Across the globe, there are several companies providing quality products. Still, one name that has been saving lives for a long time is Dupont Inc. – manufacturers of a variety of protective clothing garments for a wide range of industries. Two of their products – DuPont Tyvek 400 and DuPont Proshield Coverall are their flagship products that are highest in demand and have made a mark with their incredible capability of providing protection to the workers. DuPont Tyvek 400 and DuPont Proshield Coverall may look similar, but they are designed to perform different tasks. Let’s look at them individually:

 DuPont Tyvek 400

[caption id="attachment_3379" align="aligncenter" width="519"] DuPont TY122SWH Tyvek 400 Coverall[/caption] Most protective suits look similar, but these similarities can mostly be seen from a distance. When observed closely, there is a stark difference between DuPont Tyvek 400 and other protective suits of the same grade and quality. DuPont Tyvek 400’s unique material complete with elastic wrists and ankles goes beyond just the superficial protection that most other protective suits provide. It provides a perfect balance of protection, durability, and comfort, a combination that is hard to find in other similar products. This makes DuPont Tyvek 400 an ideal choice for a wide range of industrial usage.

 Material Properties that make DuPont Tyvek 400 Coverall Special

[caption id="attachment_3380" align="aligncenter" width="504"] Dupont Tyvek 400[/caption]

 Enhanced Protection

The DuPont Tyvek 400 is antithetically treated, providing enhanced protection capabilities from a wide range of hazards, including solid and liquid chemicals, fine dust, and even fibers. The smooth surface of DuPont Tyvek 400 repels both liquid and particles, ensuring the highest level of chemical protection. Its strong, continuous, and extremely high-density polyethylene fibers make it shed and filler free. It doesn’t contain additives either. Another unique property of DuPont chemical protective clothing is that it minimizes human contamination of products and processes in cleanroom environments in pharmaceuticals and the food industry.

 Comfortable and Durable

The DuPont Tyvek 400 has been exclusively designed by DuPont to make it extra comfortable and durable. It is highly resistant to wear and tear, and the fabric retains its high resistance properties even after surface abrasion. It's robust and durable, yet it is soft, light, supple, and permeable to air and water vapor.

 Design and Manufacturing Features 

•  The DuPont Tyvek 400's are made by flash spun, high-density polyethylene giving it a unique nonwoven material
• Its comfort fit provides greater body movement, easy stretching and bending,
• Thanks to its enhanced tailored fit, it provides reinforcement in high-stress areas, comes with a long zipper for easy donning and doffing, and has an elastic waist for a better fit
• Unique respirator-fit hood with an elastic that wraps around the face
• Attached hood with elastic neck loop
• Waist ties for better body fit
• Elastic opening for tighter fit at wrist
• Elastic opening for tighter fit at ankle
• Comes with specially made storm flaps
• Elastic wrists and ankles

DuPont Proshield 50 Coverall

The DuPont Proshield Coverall is a protective suit designed to protect from hazardous materials, particles and splash liquids, and chemicals. However, unlike other protective suits, the DuPont Proshield Coverall is to be worn over primary flame-resistant apparel. It is a limited-use garment that is comfortable, soft, breathable, and perfect for industrial use. There are different variants of the DuPont Proshield Coverall available and they provide different levels of protection in various conditions, but the main properties of all these suits are creating a proper barrier against non-hazardous dirt, and grease, grime, and aerosols. This is mostly used by employees working in potentially flammable or electric arc environments. So, DuPont Proshield Coverall is mostly used to protect from burn injuries. Since these suits are used in difficult working conditions, it has been designed keeping the highest safety standards in mind. The material used to manufacture these suits is also such that it makes them extremely safe while keeping them comfortable to wear. These spunbond-meltblown-spunbond (SMS) suits are soft, light, breathable, and lightweight so it is really easy to wear them and work even for long hours in challenging conditions.

The Difference Between the DuPont Tyvek 400 vs DuPont Proshield 50 Coverall

[caption id="attachment_3383" align="aligncenter" width="259"] DuPont Proshield 50[/caption]

Fabric

Tyvek® 400 garments are composed of flash spun high density polyethylene which creates a unique, nonwoven material available only from DuPont. It offers inherent barrier against particles (down to 1.0 micron in size). On the other hand, ProShield® 50 is essentially a composite of microporous film and nonwoven fabric. In the Tyvek® 400 garments, the protection is built into the fabric itself; hence, there are no films or laminates to abrade or wear away, which unfortunately is the case with ProShield® 50 garments.

Application

[caption id="attachment_3385" align="aligncenter" width="512"] DuPont Proshield 50 coverall[/caption] The application is the basic difference between DuPont Tyvek 400 and DuPont Proshield Coverall. Since the Tyvek 400 provides a barrier against a hazardous aerosols and non-hazardous liquids, dust and particles. it can be worn by people engaged in lead and asbestos abatement/remediation, general maintenance/operations, spray painting, and general clean-up. The Proshield 50 coveralls provide protection against a range of non-hazardous aerosols, light liquid splash and dry particles, making it ideal for applications such as janitorial, sanitation, general industrial maintenance, asbestos abatement, and hazardous remediation.

Fit

[caption id="attachment_3386" align="aligncenter" width="654"] DuPont Tyvek 400 v/s DuPont Proshield 50 Coverall[/caption] While Dupont Tyvek 400 comes with elastic waist as well as elastic wrists and ankles, the Dupont Proshield 50 simply comes with elastic wrists and ankles. Hence, it wouldn't be wrong to say that the Dupont Tyvek 400 provides a more tailored fit as compared to the Dupont proshield 50 coveralls. Both these products are highly desirable PPE for employees working in hazardous conditions and they both provide an equal amount of protection, although in different conditions. These protective clothing products have been designed and created to enhance the way employees work in challenging environments so that there are no untoward incidents. The manufacturer recommends that with each of these products other appropriate PPE such as, but not limited to, respiratory, eye, head, hand, and foot protection can be worn. The choice of such PPE must be based on the hazard assessment. Visit Enviro Safety Products to compare the full line of available Dupont coveralls.

 Three Advantages of Wearing Personal Protective Equipment

Several workplaces demand the workers and visitors to wear personal protective clothing (PPE) to remain safe from the potential hazards of such workplaces. Be it extreme heat or cold, chemicals, toxic sprays, bio-hazardous material, flames, etc., these protective suits ensure there is minimum damage in case of an accident. Here are some of the other advantages:

 Prevent Injury from Corrosives

If the workplace has chemical exposure hazards, then wearing a proper personal protective equipment is essential as it will protect you from corrosives. Medical laboratories often work with harmful bacteria that can be dangerous to your health. Wearing a protective kit will safeguard you.

Pro Tip - If your facility has a vapor chemical hazard, then make sure to check for the ideal disposable coveralls here. Not only will the perfect coveralls provide the best protection for your application, i.e. hazardous liquid chemicals, but will also ensure your comfort and convenience along the way!

Prevent Respiratory Illnesses 

If you work in an environment where a lot of gases, smoke, or chemicals are released into the air, you are likely to get respiratory diseases. However, wearing an additional personal protective equipment kit like DuPont Proshield 50 Coverall that comes with a respirator will protect you from developing such health issues.

Protection from Extreme Heat and Cold 

[caption id="attachment_3387" align="aligncenter" width="230"] DuPont Proshield 50[/caption] When working around uncontrollable flammable material, your workforce requires flame resistant clothing. This is precisely why it is crucial to don the most suited disposable coveralls for their specific chemical hazard or other application. When worn correctly, the PPE suits' fire or electric arc flash protection properties enhance safety from extremely hot or cold conditions.

Point to Remember - While DuPont does not manufacture or sell chemical-resistant boots, the coveralls offered by the brand are encapsulated suits with attached socks. Alternatively, you could choose to protect the feet by using the boot cover with Tyvek sole.

Frequently Asked Questions About Tyvek 400 and Dupont Proshield 50

What are the sizes available for Dupont coveralls?

Sizes available are SM/MD. LG, XL, 1X, 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X, 6X, 7X

How can I know if my chosen Dupont Coveralls provide protection for the specific chemical used in my workplace?

To ensure that the hazard/chemical information is accurate, consult the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) supplied with the chemical. On the basis of that, you can choose the chemical protective clothing and/or chemical resistant boots.

Is Dupont Bib apron available separately?

Yes. DuPont™ Tyvek® 400 Bib Apron (28" x 36 is separately available. It features product details such as neck loop & waist ties, and bound seams. This bib apron is white in color.

How to ensure maximum protection while wearing Dupont Tyvek 400 coveralls?

Simply refer to the DuPont Lab Safety Apparel Brochure for User Instructions as well as Fitting Instructions to ensure maximum protection.

What is the best application for Dupont coveralls?

The Tyvek 400 is best used for lead and asbestos abatement/remediation, general maintenance/operations, spray painting, general clean-up while the Proshield 50 is best used for janitorial, sanitation, general industrial maintenance, asbestos abatement, and hazardous remediation.