Assessment of the Sealing Effect of a Novel Glove Connector on Gloves in Combination with Protection Suits

Abstract

In this study, activated charcoal cloth patches were used to evaluate whether a glove connector results in less ingress than regular tape when connecting different personal protective equipment. In a test chamber, ten patches were placed on a hand mannequin underneath disposable gloves (latex, nitrile, neoprene and chemical-resistant gloves), connection devices (AlphaTec Glove Connector® and ChemTape®) and sleeves (AlphaTec®3000, 4000 and 5000). We selected a toluene aerosol as an exposure scenario. The connector is a static cone which creates a physical gap between the hand and the arm, meaning that when a high-protection level glove (chemical-resistant glove) is combined with a low-protection level sleeve (AlphaTec®3000), the glove normally protects the hand area, but ingress may still occur via the sleeve. A similar trend occurs when a low-protection level glove (latex) is combined with a high-protection level sleeve (AlphaTec®5000). This trend was not observed with the tape leading to almost expected performances. However, when the perfect sealing was lacking because of material stiffness, the connector performed better. Additionally, in general practice, using a low-protection tape may increase the user risk. In general, we showed that a perfect fit and hermetic connection are important to avoid the ingress of a hazardous chemical.

Keywords: Toluene, activated charcoal patch, personal protective equipment, duct tape and EN ISO 374-1:2016