[labnetwork] chemical resistant gloves used with HF

[John Shott]

Iulian:

We are using MAPA Advantech Trionic E-194 gloves (available from VWR and 
a number of the PPE providers) for all of our acid needs.  They are a 
mix of natural rubber, neoprene and nitrile blend.  In terms of acid 
resistance they are rated (on the MAPA site www.mapaglove.com) as a "5" 
for concentrated HF, buffered oxide etch, sulfuric acid, phosphoric 
acid, 30% H2O2, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid.  On their rating scale, 
a 5 means that they recommend changing the gloves after 301-480 minutes 
of exposure to the chemical.  Hopefully, our lab members don't have 
their gloved hands sitting in vats of acid ...  Of course, just sitting 
around, these gloves will eventually dry out and begin to crack.

Our lab members are trained (and we hope that they follow through) to 
capture some air in the glove by squeezing the cuff to make sure that 
there are no pin holes or leaks ... and to discard the gloves when they 
find a problem rather than putting them back on the carts.  They should 
be doing that before every use ...

We also provide shared use gloves at every acid station in a variety of 
sizes but also invite folks to get and maintain their own gloves if they 
prefer to have better knowledge of the history of the gloves that they 
use.  Whether they select to use the shared gloves or have their own 
pair is up to them ... but there is no charge for gloves if they want to 
get and use their private pair out of our stockroom.

Because these gloves contain natural rubber, folks with latex allergies 
may have problems.  However, in general, folks would be wearing these 
gloves over the top of a lightweight inner glove.  We provide inner 
gloves in either latex or vinyl. I have never heard of a person having a 
latex-related problem with these gloves because anyone with a latex 
allergy will choose to use vinyl liner gloves.

I hope this helps.  As usual, I'll be interested in reading all of the 
other reports that you get in response to this question as there are 
always a good number of thoughtful responses on this list.

Good luck,

John


On 8/23/2012 5:49 AM, Iulian Codreanu wrote:
> Good Morning.
>
> I am in the process of re-evaluating the additional PPEs we require at 
> the HF bench and your feedback would be much appreciated.
>
> Can you please tell me what kind of chemical resistant gloves you use 
> at your HF bench?  Make/model would be very helpful.
>
> Also, how do you go about checking their integrity?  How frequently do 
> you check?
>
> Thank you very much.
>
> Iulian