clothing microclimate temperatures in daily life

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J. Human Ergol.,17: 13-19,1988

Center for Academic Publications Japan. Printed in Japan

,

FIELD STUDIES OF CLOTHING MICROCLIMATE

TEMPERATURES IN HUMAN SUBJECTS

DURING NORMAL DAILY LIFE

Keiko NATSUME, Hiromi TOKURA, Norio ISODA,

Naomi MARUTA, and Kimiyo KAWAKAMI.

Faculty of Home Economics, Nara Women s University

, Nara 630, Japan

Department of Home Economics, Shukugaii a Junior College,

Nishinomiya 662, Japan

Department of Home Economics, Osaka Women s Junior College

,

Fujii-dera 583, Japan

Field studies were done to elucidate some factors influencing clothing

microclimate temperature with reference to wakefulness and sleep

, season

and surrounding air temperature in human subjects spending normal

regular lives. Clothing microclimate temperature measured between

frontal chest skin and innermost garment was significantly higher during

sleep than during wakefulness throughout the year

. There were no

seasonal changes in the values of clothing microclimate temperature both

during wakefulness and during sleep

. Highly significant positive rela-

tionship between the temperatures of clothing microclimate and chest

skin was found in four seasons. On the other hand positive relationship

between the temperatures of chest skin/clothing microclimate and sur-

rounding air was observed only in winter.

It has been intensively discussed how important it is for clothing and textile

sciences to make clear internal and external factors concerned with clothing

comfort (GOLDMAN,977). Clothing microclimate such as temperature

, humidity

etc., is one of the factors triggering human physiological and psychological re-

sponses including sensation of clothing comfort

. For example, according to

TOKURAet al. (1982), clothing microclimate humidity was greater in subjects

wearing polyester garments with poor fibre water and vapour absorbancy than

that in subjects wearing cotton garments with good water and vapour absorbancy

.

The higher microclimate humidity in polyester garments caused greater excitation

of the sweating center, resulting in increased amounts of sweat

. Sweating rates

are highly correlated with thermal discomfort (NADEL

, 1979). With the above

Received for publication January 6, 1988.

13



14

K. NATSUME et al.

Fig. 1. Longitudinal changes of rectal temperature, chest skin temperature, lower arm skin

temperature, clothing microclimate temperature and surrounding air temperature in a

male subject H.T.). Black and white bars indicate sleep and wakefulness, respectively.

in mind it seems important for studies of clothing comfort to elucidate systemati-

cally how clothing microclimate can be modified. As a first step we endeavoured,

therefore, to determine how clothing microclimate temperature behaves with

reference to wakefulness and sleep, season and air temperature in healthy subjects

during normal regular daily life.

METHODS

Two males H.T, and N.I., 45 and 38 yrs old, respectively) and a female

22 yrs old) served as subjects. They all spent time at university during the day,

engaging in their work and returning home in the evening. Using a Body Tem-

perature Recorder MED-TECH Co., YM-1, 15 x 19 x 3 cm, weight: 275 g),

clothing microclimate temperature between frontal chest skin surface and in-

nermost garment, frontal chest skin temperature, lower arm skin temperature,

rectal temperature and air temperature near the subject were measured con-

tinuously throughout the day and night for 7 to 10 days during spring, summer,

autumn and winter, respectively. These data were printed out on a printer every

10 min with the aid of a computer after the completion of the experiment. The

subjects always carried the Body Temperature Recorder on their waist while



CLOTHING MICROCLIMATE TEMPERATURE

15

Fig. 2. Clothing microclimate temperature of a female subject (K.N.) during spring, summer,

autumn and winter. Each value is average from 7-10 days in each season (mean

•} S.D. ).

a wake and laid it by their bedside during the night. The measurements did not

prevent subjects normal behaviour and clothing ensembles. Generally speaking,

two male subjects wore briefs, undershirt with half sleeves, shirt with long sleeves,

jacket and long trousers in spring; briefs, undershirt with no sleeves, T-shirt and

short or long trousers in summer; briefs, undershirt and shirt with long sleeves,

vest, sack coat in autumn; and briefs, undershirt and shirt with long sleeves,

sweater or vest, sack coat and overcoat in winter. A female subject wore shorts,

brassiere, slip, blouse, jacket, skirt and stockings in spring; shorts, brassiere, T-

shirt, jacket, skirt and stockings in summer; shorts, brassiere, slip, blouse, jacket

and stockings in autumn; and shorts, brassiere, slip, blouse, sweater, skirt, stock-

ings and overcoat in winter. Jacket, sack coat and overcoat were sometimes

taken off and sometimes put on, depending on an ambient temperature. One



16

K. NATSUME et al.

Table 1. A comparison of clothing microclimate temperatures measured between

frontal chest and inner layer clothing, and temperatures of chest skin

and air during wakefulness and sleep in three subjects.

Values •Ž) are mean±S.E.M. F and M mean female and male, respectively.

H.T.) of the two male subjects did not put on socks in general, but the other one

N.I.) did over four seasons. Clothing weight was 880-1740 g H.T.), 670-1090 g

N.I.), 980-1020 g K.N.) in spring; 310 g H.T.), 630 g N.I.), 515 g K.N.) in

summer; 1180-2040 g H.T.), 1250-1700 g N.I.), 1040-1090 g K.N.) in autumn;

1900-2770 g H.T.), 1230-1870 g N.I.), 990-2320 g K.N.) in winter. Since

seasonality of day-night variation in rectal temperature is reported elsewhere

MARUTA t al., 1987), in this report emphasis is placed on movement of clothing

microclimate temperature with reference to wakefulness and sleep, season and

air temperature.

RESULTS

In Fig. 1 original data of rectal temperature, chest skin temperature, lower

arm skin temperature, clothing microclimate temperature and air temperature

are longitudinally represented for seven days in a male subject H.T.). It is seen

that all temperatures of rectum, chest skin, arm skin, clothing microclimate and

air are not constant, but subject to rhythmical changes. Analysis of the period

using periodogram SASAKI, 978) showed that all these curves had a period of

exactly 24 h. Rectal temperature is higher during the day and lower during the

night. Contrary to this, temperatures of chest skin, lower arm and clothing

microclimate are lower during wakefulness and higher during sleep, although

there are some days with exceptions in lower arm skin temperature.




17

Fig. 3. Relationship between the temperatures of clothing microclimate and chest skin

uppermost), of chest skin and air middle) and of clothing microclimate and air low-

ermost) in each season in a female subject K

,N,).

Clothing microclimate temperature of a female subject K

.N.) is averaged at

each season in Fig. 2. The values were significantly higher during sleep than

during wakefulness in spring, autumn and winter

. They were only slightly higher

during sleep in summer. Average clothing microclimate temperatures throughout

the four seasons were 33.7+1.2•Ž in K.N.

, 33.5+1.2•Ž in H.T, and 33.0+1.3•Ž

in N.I. during wakefulness; 35

.2+0.6•Ž in K.N., 35.1+0.7•Ž in H.T. and 34.7+

1.0•Ž in N.I. during sleep. It should be also noted that the variation of clothing

microclimate temperature is greater during wakefulness than during sleep

, judging

from the findings that standard deviation or error) of most average values was

larger during wakefulness than during sleep Fig

. 2, Table 1). The values during

wakefulness and sleep respectively did not show any consistent changes from

season to season in three subjects Table 1)

.

In order to elucidate the factors influencing clothing microclimate tempera-

tures, the relationship between the temperatures of clothing microclimate and

chest skin, of chest skin and air and of clothing microclimate and air during



18

K. NATSUME et al.

wakefulness is seasonally depicted in a female subject (K.N.) in Fig. 3. There

existed a highly positive relationship between the temperatures of clothing microcli-

mate and chest skin in all seasons, i.e., the correlation coefficient ranged from

0.87 to 0.92 (uppermost part of Fig. 3). On the other hand, a significant positive

relationship between the temperatures of chest skin/clothing microclimate and

surrounding air was not found in spring, summer and autumn, but only in winter

(middle and lowest part of Fig. 3). Similar tendencies were observed also in the

other two subjects.

DISCUSSION

Clothing microclimate temperature during wakefulness ranging from 33.0•Ž

to 33.7•Ž was clearly greater in our present experiment than 32.1+1•Ž, the values

hitherto described as standard clothing microclimate temperature (SUZUKI, 1932;

YAMAMOTO, 1959; YAMAMOTO and MIZUNASHI, 1959). Contrary to this, WATA-

NABE (1981) found that clothing microclimate temperature measured at chest level

was 33 :E: 1°C at ambient temperatures of 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30•Ž in sedentary

females wearing comfortable garments at each of these temperatures. The

values obtained in our present case are similar to those reported by WATANABE

(1981). As present studies were made in the field, the subjects could not always

adjust their garments comfortably, and sometimes felt warm. These situations

made the values of clothing microclimate temperature a little higher, compared

with those derived from other authors.

Furthermore, it should be noted that there existed great differences in clothing

microclimate temperature between wakefulness and sleep. The fact that clothing

microclimate temperatures were higher during sleep, to our knowledge, has not

been demonstrated before. According to GLOTZBACH and HELLER (1976), eleva-

tion of metabolic responses to brain cooling is not observed during paradoxical

sleep in the kangaroo rat, occurred normally during wakefulness and was inter-

mediate during deep sleep. This means that the maintenance of thermal balance

is subject to failure in the cold during paradoxical sleep, resulting in lowering of

rectal temperature. With the above in mind, it might be regarded as safe

that clothing microclimate temperature is maintained at a higher level during

sleep, since there is no fear that thermal balance is lost in a subject exposed to

tropical warm ambient temperatures.

The subjects were active during wakefulness, engaging themselves in their

usual work. Body movement accelerated the bellows effect, which allowed

air to circulate across the body surface (WATKINS, 1984), resulting in greater

variation of clothing microclimate temperature during wakefulness in comparison

with that during sleep.

A positive correlation between temperatures of clothing microclimate and

chest skin existed throughout the year, because the measurement point of. clothing




19

microclimate temperature is just above that of chest skin temperature , but a

positive correlation between temperatures of chest skin/clothing microclimate and

surrounding air was observed not in spring, summer and autumn, but only in

winter (Fig. 3). This suggests that the temperature of clothing microclimate and

chest skin interact irrespective of ambient air temperature. The reason why a

positive correlation between temperatures of chest skin/clothing microclimate and

surrounding air existed only in winter (middle and lowermost part of Fig. 3)

,

might be ascribed to the fact that the subjects were exposed to a range of ambient

temperatures from warm to cold in winter compared with those in other seasons

.

Although the subjects were more heavily dressed in winter

, colder ambient tem-

peratures influenced chest skin and clothing microclimate temperatures, resulting

in a positive correlation between temperatures of chest skin/clothing microclimate

and surrounding air.

REFERENCES

GLOTZBACH,. F, and HELLER, . C. (1976) Central nervous regulation of body temperature

during sleep. Science, 194: 537-539.

GOLDMAN,. F. (1977) Thermal comfort factors: Concepts and definition

. In Clothing Com-

fort, ed. by HoLLIES, .R.S. and GOLDMAN,. F., Ann Arbor Science Publisher

, Ann Arbor,

pp. 3-8.

MARUTA, ., NATSUME,., TOKURA, ., KAWAKAMI,., and ISODA, . (1987) Seasonal changes

of circadian pattern in human rectal temperature rhythm underr semi-natural conditions.

Experientia, 43: 294-296.

NADEL, . (1979) Sensitivity to central and peripheral stimulation in humans

. In Thermal Com-

fort : Physiological and Psychological Bases, ed. by DURAND

, J. and RAYNAUD,., Inserm,

Paris, pp. 57-66.

SASAKI,. (1978) The search for rhythmicity components. In: Chronobiology

, ed. by SASAKI,

T. and CHIBA,Y., Asakura, Tokyo, pp. 312-332

.

SUZUKI,H. (1932) Studies on clothing climate (V). Natl. Hyg

., 9: 1887-1932.

TOKURA,., YAMASHITA, .nd TOMIOKA,. (1982) The effectsof moisture and water absorbancy

of fibres on the sweating rate of sedentary man in hot environments. In Objective Specifi-

cation of Fabric Quality, Mechanical Properties and Performance

, ed. by KAWABATA,.

, POSTLE, . and NIWA, M., The Textile Machinery of Japan, Osaka

, pp. 407-418.

WATANABE,. (1981) Clothing and Body Temperature Regulation

. In Thermal Physiology,

ed. by NAKAYAMA,., Rikogakusha, Tokyo, pp. 538-553.

WATKINS, . M. (1984) Clothing: The Portable Environment (1st ed

.). Iowa State University

Press, Ames.

YAMAMOTO,. (1959) Danshi fukusou no hifuku kousei to bousho boukan kouka tono kankei

(The connection between man s clothing construction and the effects of protection against

cold and heat). J. Kyoto Pref. Med. Univ., 65: 1485-1501

YAMAMOTO,. and MIZUNASHI,. (1959) Ifuku no chakuyou katashiki no kikou eiseigakuteki

kenkyuu (Climatic hygienical studies on wearing-method of the clothing)

, J. Kyoto Pref.

Med. Univ.65: 1581-1591.

clothing microclimate temperatures in daily life

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