Are You Wearing the Correct Lab Safety Gloves?

Are your lab safety gloves compatible with the materials you are using? Are you wearing the correct type of gloves? If not, you and your colleagues could be exposed to chemicals that penetrate the skin, biohazards, and extreme temperatures.

Sample Types of Safety Gloves include:

Liquid- and chemical-resistant gloves safeguard users from skin-penetrating substances that may irritate and/or cause rashes or burns. These gloves are typically crafted of neoprene, nitrile, latex, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), or butyl. Choose the glove material that is compatible with the chemical you are handling.

Disposable gloves (industrial or laboratory) reduce contamination when used in laboratories, cleanroom environments, and microchip production. These gloves protect you while working with germs, pathogens, or other potentially hazardous samples. You will also find them used in food safety and technology. To maximize finger dexterity and sensitivity, they are made of pliable materials such as nitrile, polyethylene, latex, or vinyl.

Temperature-resistant gloves, as their name implies, provide a barrier that protects skin from extreme cold or heat. Those toiling in ice-cold climates or working in freezers or cryogenics need to safeguard their hands from frostbite. Others working with or around open flames have to have gloves designed to tolerate high levels of heat.

Cut-resistant gloves protect users from punctures, snags, abrasions, and cuts. These gloves are commonly worn in industrial environments or when handling animals.

Check Cole-Parmer’s Safety Glove Chemical Compatibility Database, which lists more than 190 chemicals, to see if your glove material is compatible with the chemicals you are using. Variables such as temperature, thickness of material, concentration of chemicals, and length of exposure will affect the performance of the glove material with the chemical.