Toxicity Warning Badge
GMD Systems of Bacharach, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania manufactures
and markets toxic gas detection and air sampling devices, with
special emphasis on passive "badge" type dosimeters,
worn by workers in potentially toxic environments to provide
warning of exposure to hazardous chemicals.
GMD Systems' Hydrazine Badge changes color when its wearer
is exposed to a chemical containing a hydrazine component.
For monitoring NASA and contractor personnel exposed to hydrazine
and monomethyl hydrazine (MMH), NASA contracted with GMD Systems
for development of a colorimetric gas monitoring dosimeter. Hydrazine
and MMH are hyperbolic fuels that ignite on contact with an oxidizer;
typical risk areas where exposure monitoring is required include
facilities where the fuels are produced and facilities where
workers are engaged in assembly and operational handling of spacecraft,
missiles and aircraft auxiliary power units in which the fuels
are used.
GMD Systems developed a reliable monitoring dosimeter for
NASA, then modified the NASA technology to create a new commercial
product, the GMD 530 Series Hydrazine Badge. The commercial version
is used in chemical manufacturing, industrial cleaning applications
and in areas where hydrazine is used as an oxygen scavenger,
such as boiler feed water in the electric industry.
The 530 series badge has two separate paper tape chemistries
in one badge; a pair of circular windows in the badge allow each
tape to be exposed and observed. In the presence of either hydrazine
or MMH, both tapes change colors, providing an immediate visual
alarm.
The badge offers secondary utility as a low-cost leak detector
hung on suspect pipes or valves.
In both cases, the density of the color stain increases in
proportion of the hydrazine/MMH in the air and the total time
of exposure. The system includes two types of pocket-size estimator
cards (Dose Estimator Units), one for each substance. A supervisor
uses the estimator to match the color of an exposed badge with
a set of color standards for the particular substance involved;
the standards are shown on the estimator card for quick reference.
The color matching serves as a basis for immediate, accurate
estimation of the level of exposure.
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