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Last Updated: November 14, 2023
Nitrile gloves are the most common type of disposable glove available. These lightweight, flexible, and puncture-resistant gloves protect the hands of workers against biohazards and dangerous chemicals across the world. And unlike latex gloves, nitriles are hypoallergenic and safe to use by anybody. In this article, we will go over what they’re made of, what kind of protection they offer, and a few tips for safely handling and wearing them.
Nitrile gloves are made from acrylonitrile butadiene rubber, a 100% synthetic rubber material. Nitrile rubber was originally used to make grommets and gaskets for aircraft. However, manufacturers soon took notice of nitrile’s incredible resistance to chemicals and contamination and realized it would make a great material for disposable gloves.
Nitrile gloves are tested on how well they perform when exposed to chemicals. During these exposure tests, the gloves are judged on three main criteria:
Breakthrough Time: How long it takes to detect a foreign substance inside the glove.
Degradation: How much the gloves swell, crack, soften, and/or shrink.
Permeation Rate: How quickly and at what rate the foreign substance passes through the material following a breakthrough, including exterior absorption, diffusion, and interior desorption.
Depending on the chemical that the gloves are exposed to, nitrile gloves will provide one of the following levels of protection:
Short-term Splash Protection: Breakthrough will not occur within 15 minutes of exposure for gloves at 5 mil or greater. Nitrile provides short-term splash protection against oils, fuels, weak acids and caustics, and some organic solvents.
Poor Protection: Breakthrough may occur in under 1 minute for gloves at 5 mil or less. Nitrile provides poor protection against alcohols, ketones, concentrated acids, amines, and aromatic hydrocarbons.
No Protection: Breakthrough is near-instantaneous, meaning gloves at 5 mil or less cannot offer any amount of protection. Thin nitrile cannot protect against chemicals like concentrated acetic acid, 30% ammonium hydroxide, 95% sulfuric acid, or any percentage of hydrofluoric acid.
Nitrile has replaced latex as the most popular material for disposable gloves and for good reason: nitrile can offer greater protection than latex with almost none of the health risks.
For one, nitrile is hypoallergenic and 100% latex-free. Latex is a common allergen and can cause those with the allergy to experience an aggressive reaction. Nitrile, meanwhile, is perfectly safe to use. In fact, the only reactions nitrile causes are related to the presence of allergenic additives, such as powder for easy donning and doffing or accelerants that boost the gloves’ elasticity. If this is a concern, nitrile gloves are available powder and accelerator-free.
Nitrile is a tougher and thicker material than latex, providing greater resistance to punctures and chemical contaminants. On top of this, nitrile lasts longer and doesn’t degrade as quickly as latex does. However, the thicker material means that nitrile is not as flexible or dexterous as latex.
Donning and doffing is the process of safely putting on and removing disposable gloves. Donning and doffing promote workplace hygiene and prevent contact with harmful substances. We’ve made a short video that you can follow along to here:
Before you don your gloves, first wash and dry your hands thoroughly. Now you may don your gloves, ensuring the gloves are the right fit for the size of your hand and that they lack any cuts, holes, or tears.
By the time you’re done wearing your gloves, they may be covered in a layer of contamination that could be harmful to your skin and therefore require proper doffing procedure. First, using a gloved hand, grab the palm of the other glove and pull it off your hand, turning it inside-out as you remove it. Hold the removed glove in the remaining gloved hand. Next, tuck your fingers underneath the wrist of the second glove and peel it off, turning it inside-out over the first glove. Safely dispose of the gloves. Finally, thoroughly wash and dry your hands after doffing your gloves.
In general, you should change gloves once your gloves lose their ability to adequately protect your hands. Whether they’ve been stained, torn, or a breakthrough has taken place, you need to replace these gloves immediately. Additionally, avoid cross-contamination by changing gloves between handling chemicals. No matter what, never reuse disposable gloves. They’re disposable for a reason, you know.
While nitrile gloves are about as everyday as a stapler or a pencil, you still need to make certain considerations when wearing them and changing them. Nitrile offers a comfortable fit and great chemical resistance, but it isn’t invincible. Keep in mind the substances that nitrile can handle and those it can’t. For more information on the material properties of nitrile gloves and advice on best practices, check out this article from the University of Pennsylvania.
And since you’re here, take a look at our selection of disposable gloves, which includes nitrile. All our disposable glove products come with free shipping, so we can help you stock up on nitrile gloves, the safe and sanitary solution to workplaces with dangerous substances.
For further reading on disposable gloves and workplace safety, check out our article going over hand safety basics.
