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How Safe Are Gloves

Different kinds of gloves provide different kinds of protection. You may need several types of gloves to provide protection against the hazardous substances in your workplace. To ascertain which glove material is most suitable for a particular hazardous exposure, always check with the chemical Safety Data Sheet, the glove manufacturer, and always follow the applicable Hazard Control Plan requirements.

Glove effectiveness is measured in terms of the following characteristics:

  • Degradation — A change in a glove’s physical characteristics (swelling, softening, cracking, change in color or texture)
  • Permeation rate — The speed at which a hazardous substance penetrates the glove material.
  • Breakthrough time — The time between initial contact and first detection of the hazardous substance inside the glove.

Consult this chart for an overview of commonly used glove types and their general advantages and disadvantages:

Chart of commonly used glove types and their general advantages and disadvantages Glove material Intended use Advantages and disadvantages Latex (natural rubber) Incidental contact

  • Good for biological and water-based materials
  • Poor for organic solvents
  • Little chemical protection
  • Hard to detect puncture holes
  • Can cause or trigger latex allergies

Kevlar Specific Use

  • Good for cut resistance*
  • Good for flame resistance*
  • Good for reusability
  • No chemical protection
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Nitrile Incidental contact

  • Good for solvents, oils, greases, and some acids and bases
  • Clear indication of tears and breaks
  • Good alternative for those with latex allergies

Butyl rubber Extended contact

  • Good for ketones and esters
  • Poor for gasoline and aliphatic, aromatic, and halogenated hydrocarbons

Neoprene Extended contact

  • Good for acids, bases, alcohols, fuels, peroxides, hydrocarbons, and phenols
  • Poor for halogenated and aromatic hydrocarbons

Norfoil Extended contact

  • Good for most hazardous chemicals
  • Poor fit (Note: Dexterity can be partially regained by using a heavier weight Nitrile glove over the Norfoil glove. Also, 4H brand gloves tend to provide better dexterity than the Silver Shield brand.)

Viton Extended contact

  • Good for chlorinated and aromatic solvents
  • Good resistance to cuts and abrasions
  • Poor for ketones

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) Specific use

  • Good for acids, bases, oils, fats, peroxides, and amines
  • Good resistance to abrasions
  • Poor for most organic solvents

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) Specific use

  • Good for aromatic and chlorinated solvents
  • Poor for water-based solutions

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