A moving robotic hand system for whole-glove permeation and penetration: captan and nitrile gloves

The aim of this study was to develop a robotic hand to test the influence of hand movement on the permeation/penetration of captan through disposable nitrile rubber gloves. An available robotic hand was modified to within one standard deviation of the anthropometric 50th percentile male hand. Permeation tests used a nylon inspection glove interposed between medium-size outer and inner nitrile gloves, the latter protected the hand. Permeation of an aqueous emulsion (217 mg/mL) of captan was conducted at 35 degrees C +/- 0.7 degrees C. A new surface wipe technique facilitated collection of captan from the inner surface of the exposed nitrile gloves, a technique favored above rinse methods that extracted captan from within the glove. With hand movement, the permeated mass of captan collected after 8 hr ranged from 1.6 to 970 microg (Brand A) and 8.6 +/- 1.2 microg (Brand B). Without hand movement, the corresponding masses ranged from 1.4 to 8.4 microg (Brand A) and 11 +/- 3 mg (Brand B). These results were not significantly different at p < or = 0.05 using parametric and nonparametric statistical tests but indicated that hand movement could influence the precision of permeation (F-test p < or = 0.05). One glove exhibited failure after 2 hr with movement, in comparison with 0.5 to 9.9 microg captan with no movement. Hand movement did not appear to significantly affect the permeation of captan through nitrile gloves. However, hand movement did influence physical and/or chemical degradation, resulting in glove failures. The robotic hand simulated normal hand motions, was reliable, and could be used to assess the influence of hand movement on the permeation of nonvolatile components through gloves. Future research should continue to investigate the influence of hand movement and additional work factors on the permeation, penetration, and physical integrity of protective gloves.