[labnetwork] chemical resistant gloves used with HF

[Luciani, Vincent]

Hello Iulian,

Great seeing you at the UGIM.  Our policy is very close to John's.

We like the Trionic (or tri-blend more generically) gloves as well.  They are by far the best combination of protection and dexterity.  We still supply the re-usable thicker nitrile gloves and recommend their usage when using any acids but we permit the use of double-gloved tri-blend gloves when good dexterity is essential.   

At the solvent benches, we have switched to the tri-blend gloves.

When using a TMAH solution we require nitrile or tri-blend gloves and disposable sleeve protectors due to the toxicity of the TMAH via skin absorption.   I look forward to the day that extra-long tri-blend gloves are available.

Take care,
Vince


-----Original Message-----
From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu] On Behalf Of John Shott
Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2012 11:16 AM
To: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu; Iulian Codreanu
Subject: Re: [labnetwork] chemical resistant gloves used with HF

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


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