Is there something about the word “cleanroom” that people just don’t get?

Actually, no, it’s not that. Cleanrooms are the most vital rooms in a facility within the food preparation, aerospace and medical/pharamceutical industries. And they are called cleanrooms for a reason, and we don’t need to go into why. However, while they are supposed to be the most sterile areas in a facility, they are still very difficult to keep clean. While there are industries that have their own potential contaminants that can and should be controlled, there are uncontrolled contaminants that are risky for cleanrooms.

[Image courtesy of Flickr user Steve Jurvetson via a Creative Commons license]

[Image courtesy of Flickr user Steve Jurvetson via a Creative Commons license]

There has been a series of ISO standards designed to address these contaminants, controlled and uncontrolled, giving guidance as to measuring and monitoring contaminant levels in cleanrooms. Recently, ISO updated a couple of standards to reflect modern technologies and innovations, which have affected the “purity” level of cleanrooms and gives new opportunities to measure and address uncontrolled contaminants in a way that is helpful in keeping and maintaining  the integrity of the cleanroom operation.

These uncontrolled contaminants have been the biggest challenge, and recent innovations in the field have helped cleanroom managers and administrators get a better handle on these contaminants, but it has been a struggle to actually measure the contamination level and what the market requires. As technology becomes more sensitive, there is a greater importance placed on cleanrooms staying clean, and even in some cases being cleaner than before. And that means tighter monitoring and stricter measurements of these contaminants that can put products and processes at risk.

ISO has revised a couple of key standards that it claims will help cleanrooms administrators do a better job of measuring and managing airborne contaminants. The first standard to be revised is Part 1 of ISO 14644-1:2015, which addresses “Classification of Air Cleanliness by Particle Concentration;” and the other standard is Part 2 of ISO 14644-2:2015, which addresses “Monitoring to Provide Evidence of Cleanroom Performance Related to Air Cleanliness by Particle Concentration.”

For more about these standards and what they mean for your cleanroom operation, check this link.