Protective gloves of polymeric materials. Experimental permeation testing and clinical study of side effects

In the occupational use and handling of hazardous chemicals and infectious materials, exposure must be minimized. To diminish the risk of direct skin contact and percutaneous toxicity, the use of protective gloves is one of the most important measures to consider. For effective protection, the selection process must include evaluation of permeation test data as well as the risk of side effects possibly caused by the glove materials. In permeation testing (in vitro), breakthrough time and permeation rate are key values measured. Test conditions such as size and design of the permeation test cell, flow rate of the collecting medium through the test cell, measurement systems, testing procedures and analytical equipment can vary and can have crucial influence on the test results. In the present investigation, five permeation test cells of different sizes and design were used, the collecting gas flow rate was varied between 60 and 120 ml/min and 120 to 500 ml/min, the ASTM F 739 and ISO/DIS standard test procedures were performed using two different measurement systems, and in vitro versus in vivo testing techniques were studied. Gloves and glove materials of neoprene were exposed to four organic solvents. The breakthrough times (in vitro) for the test chemicals were slightly influenced by variations in cell size and design, flow rate and test procedure. The only significant influence on the breakthrough time values was between the two measurement systems, direct flow and automatic sampling. On the other hand, the permeation rate values were affected to a much greater extent, in most cases significantly. The test conditions in the in vitro and in vivo procedures differed in many ways and the test results were therefore compared on a relative basis. The breakthrough time values for the solvents through gloves of vinyl, natural rubber and butyl rubber were in the same rank order in both in vitro and in vivo testing. There was no evident correlation between the relative permeation rate values (in vitro) and the relative absorption rate values (in vivo). Disposable gloves of latex or plastic materials are also commonly used in health care as protection against microorganisms. Therefore contact with disinfectants is frequent. The resistance of gloves made of natural rubber latex, vinyl (PVC) and polyethylene to permeation by ethanol, isopropanol, m-chlorocresol and glutaraldehyde-based disinfectant was studied mainly according to the ISO/DIS permeation test procedure. In addition, glove pieces exposed to isopropanol and ethanol were studied with the scanning electron microscope (SEM).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)