• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.228-235
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• 2024

Background: Glove reuse poses risks, as chemicals can persist even after cleaning. Decontamination methods like thermal aeration, recommended by US OSHA, vary in effectiveness. Some studies show promising results, while others emphasize the importance of considering both permeation and tensile strength changes. This research advocates for informed glove reuse, emphasizing optimal thermal aeration temperatures and providing evidence to guide users in maintaining protection efficiency. Methods: The investigation evaluated Neoprene and Nitrile gloves (22 mils). Permeation tests with toluene and acetone adhered to American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) F739 standards. Decontamination optimization involved aeration at various temperatures. The experiment proceeded with a maximum of 22 re-exposure cycles. Tensile strength and elongation were assessed following ASTM D 412 protocols. Breakthrough time differences were statistically analyzed using t-test and ANOVA. Results: At room temperature, glove residuals decreased, and standardized breakthrough time (SBT)₂ was significantly lower than SBT₁, indicating reduced protection. Higher temperature decontamination accelerated residual removal, with ∆SBT (SBT₂/SBT₁) exceeding 100%, signifying restored protection. Tensile tests showed stable neoprene properties postdecontamination. Results underscore thermal aeration's efficacy for gloves reuse, emphasizing temperature's pivotal role. Findings recommend meticulous management strategies, especially post-breakthrough, to uphold glove-protective performance. Conclusions: Thermal aeration at 100℃ for 1 hour proves effective, restoring protection without compromising glove strength. The study, covering twenty cycles, suggests safe glove reuse with proper decontamination, reducing costs significantly. However, limitations in chemical-glove combinations and exclusive focus on specific gloves caution against broad generalization. The absence of regulatory directives on glove reuse highlight the importance of informed selection and rigorous decontamination validation for workplace safety practices.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.62-69
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• 2008

As the concerns of dermal exposure of spray painters to isocyanates in the automobile industry, glove performance was examined like permeation rate and breakthrough time including fatigue test. Methylene chloride was used as the solvent for derivatization of the isocyanates with a 97.5% recovery. Ghost wipe pads were used to wipe the surface of the glove material after chemical penetration through the glove material placed under a disposable test cell. Several solvents were tested, such as thinner(xylene, toluene) and cleaning agent(acetone) by using a standard permeation test cell(AS/NZS standard 2161. part 10.3). Solvents accelerate chemical permeation through the gloves more quickly than pure HDI hardener products. The longest breakthrough times were from Nitrosolve gloves, not detected in 8 hours, compared with others like Latex, Neoprene, TNT and Dermo Plus. Therefore Nitrosolve gloves could be recommended as personal protective equipment in crash repair shops. In addition, revised exposure limit of korean regulation should be suggested for employee to minimize the risk of health symptoms.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.21 no.3 s.75
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• pp.53-58
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• 2006

Following a Mediterranean fruit fly outbreak in South Australia, a bait spray program involving the pesticides like malathion(MAL) was carried out. During the application, dermal exposure was considered for the pest controllers wearing PVC gloves. However there is a lack of information about PVC glove performance like break through times and permeation rates with MAL, therefore, a new analytical method for HPLC-UV was developed. A standard permeation test cell was used in this study. From the results of this study, more than 96% solubility of MAL was provided at 30% isopropyl alcohol in distilled water as a collecting media. However, there was significant decomposition of MAL when the solutions were kept at over $50^{\circ}C$ for 2-3 hours. As a mobile phase, 50% acetonitrile water solution (pH 6.0) gave the greater sensitivity compared with other compositions of acetonitrile solution. The arm section of the gloves had shorter breakthrough times and higher permeation rates compared with the palm. There was no malathion solution breakthrough up to 24 hours using the 1% MAL working strength solution. When the temperature was changed from $22{\pm}1^{\circ}C\;to\;37{\pm}1^{\circ}C$, the breakthrough times were decreased by 14.5% on palm and 37.5% on arm, and permeation rates were increased significantly. The findings of this study indicate that further investigations on used gloves, periods of use and varying working conditions like tasks and seasons should be carried out to assess potential worst case scenarios.