Personal cooling garments: a review

Abstract

Personal cooling garments have been developed to reduce the risk of heat stress and heat-related injuries in hot environments. The human body can suffer from a kind of heat stress resulting in reduced working endurance and performance and an increased risk of heat illness when exposed to hot climates. This gets worse when combined with physical work, such as firefighting, military drills, special work situations, and sports. The use of protective clothing which limits the sweat evaporation of the body can also make the situation worse. This review includes a brief look at the human thermoregulation and its relation with the cooling garments, classification of the personal cooling garments, testing procedures, and parameters affecting the efficiency of the cooling garments.