<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)">
<!--[if !mso]><style>v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style><![endif]--><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Aptos;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle20
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:10.0pt;
mso-ligatures:none;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple" style="word-wrap:break-word">
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">For solvent protection, particularly the chlorinated ones, the best gloves I have heard of in the past were the metallized polyester films (<a href="https://www.newpig.com/north-silver-shield-4h-gloves/p/WPL262">SilverShield</a>).
These are similar or worse than the cheap food service stamped gloves that kill your finger dexterity, so the recommendation was to put them on and then put on top of that a tight fitting nitrile or similar glove that won’t protect against the solvent but
holds the glove tight on your hand to improve the fit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Dan<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Daniel Woodie<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Director, Micro/Nanofabrication Center, Princeton Materials Institute<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div>
<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> labnetwork <labnetwork-bounces@mtl.mit.edu>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Yakimov, Michael<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, August 13, 2026 7:54 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Katharine Beach <beach@umich.edu>; labnetwork@mtl.mit.edu<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [labnetwork] Solvent Bench PPE<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Katharine,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Thank you for bringing that up. Looks like NMP is in a process of being reevaluated, not unlike TMAH (and 2EE before that). Not as harshly as TCE, but we may brace for our safety departments getting the memo..<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><a href="https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/risk-evaluation-n-methylpyrrolidone-nmp-0">https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/risk-evaluation-n-methylpyrrolidone-nmp-0</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273230023000053">https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273230023000053</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">With that, another question you may want to look at is - what is the role of gloves when working with solvents? .<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Breakthrough times for solvents for gloves are measured in minutes. I didn't see consistent datasets, but I heard acetone is 10-30 minutes on thin nitrile. (some handwaving about nitrile vs acetone-soluble ABS
is removed). I certainly got photoresist smell off my hands after taking off some completely intact blue nitrile golves before.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"> I do see a reference for 2 minutes breakthrough on thin nitrile for NMP in California, but I would take that with a grain of salt outside of CA.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">But this might give you a flavor of how reliable things are. Looks like not very:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><a href="https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/185552">https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/185552</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">My impression is that gloves, even fancy ones, are not a real protection against solvents in most cases. But in a cleanroom environment, they are the way to remove contamination mechanically should it land on the
glove. So it may be that best glove is a cheap glove which people are willing to through away, rather than save for long time and/or reuse...<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Just a thought<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Mike<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div id="Signature">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>_______________________________________________<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Michael Yakimov<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Research scientist<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Department of Nanoscale Science and Engineering<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>University at Albany - State University of NY<o:p></o:p></p>
<p> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>253 Fuller rd.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Albany NY 12203<o:p></o:p></p>
<p> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Phone: 518-437-8609 lab<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>e-mail: <span style="color:#467886"><a href="mailto:myakimov@albany.edu"><span style="color:#467886">myakimov@albany.edu</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p> <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">
<hr size="2" width="98%" align="center">
</div>
<div id="divRplyFwdMsg">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"> labnetwork <<a href="mailto:labnetwork-bounces@mtl.mit.edu">labnetwork-bounces@mtl.mit.edu</a>>
on behalf of Katharine Beach <<a href="mailto:beach@umich.edu">beach@umich.edu</a>><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, August 13, 2026 9:22 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:labnetwork@mtl.mit.edu">labnetwork@mtl.mit.edu</a> <<a href="mailto:labnetwork@mtl.mit.edu">labnetwork@mtl.mit.edu</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [labnetwork] Solvent Bench PPE<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thank you to everyone who responded. This information is very helpful. Reading over the responses has led me to a second question.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Do you use NMP based solvents or PRS-2000 in your wet processes/solvent benches? If so, does this affect the required PPE? I ask because these chemicals have a Health Hazard level 2 and 3 respectively vs level 1 for Acetone and IPA. Some
lab PPE requirements I was sent have qualifiers based on what solvents are used.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Katharine<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On Tue, Aug 11, 2026 at 8:28<span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span>AM Katharine Beach <<a href="mailto:beach@umich.edu">beach@umich.edu</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
<blockquote style="border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in">
<p class="MsoNormal">Greetings,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At the LNF we are evaluating our Solvent Bench PPE requirements. I've been tasked with comparing our current PPE requirements with that of our peers'. If you would be so kind as to share links to this information, or just your requirements that
would be greatly appreciated.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Our current requirements are to wear your safety glasses, these should alway be on in the Cleanroom, and a pair of polychloroprene gloves in addition to the base nitrile gloves.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks you,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Katharine Beach<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">--<o:p></o:p></p>
<table class="MsoNormalTable" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="padding:6.0pt .75pt 0in 0in">
<table class="MsoNormalTable" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="top" style="padding:0in 6.75pt 0in .75pt">
<table class="MsoNormalTable" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td nowrap="" style="padding:0in .75pt 0in 0in">
<p style="margin:.75pt;line-height:12.75pt"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Katharine Beach</span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:.75pt;line-height:13.5pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#888888">Lead Research Engineer</span><span style="color:#888888"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:.75pt;line-height:13.5pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#888888">Lurie Nanofabrication Facility</span><span style="color:#888888"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:.75pt;line-height:13.5pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#888888">University of Michigan</span><span style="color:#888888"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</td>
<td style="border:none;border-right:solid #007BFF 1.5pt;padding:.75pt 0in 0in 0in">
</td>
<td valign="top" style="padding:0in .75pt 0in 6.75pt">
<table class="MsoNormalTable" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="padding:0in .75pt 0in 0in">
<table class="MsoNormalTable" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="padding:.75pt 3.75pt .75pt 0in">
<p style="margin:.75pt"><span style="color:#222222"><img border="0" width="18" height="18" style="width:.1898in;height:.1898in" id="_x0000_i1032" src="https://signaturehound.com/api/v1/png/email/default/007bff.png"></span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="padding:.75pt 0in .75pt 0in">
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:.75pt;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.75pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:12.75pt">
<span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#888888"><a href="mailto:vpray@umich.edu"><span style="color:#888888">beach@umich.edu</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding:.75pt 3.75pt .75pt 0in">
<p style="margin:.75pt"><span style="color:#222222"><img border="0" width="84" height="84" style="width:.875in;height:.875in" id="_x0000_i1031" src="https://signaturehound.com/api/v1/png/phone/default/007bff.png"></span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="padding:.75pt 0in .75pt 0in">
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:.75pt;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.75pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:12.75pt">
<span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#888888"><a href="tel:7347638105"><span style="color:#888888">(734) 255-9487</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding:.75pt 3.75pt .75pt 0in"></td>
<td style="padding:.75pt 0in .75pt 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:12.75pt"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#007BFF"><a href="https://calendly.com/beachlnf"><span style="color:#007BFF">Calendly</span></a></span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#007BFF"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" style="padding:.75pt 3.75pt .75pt 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#222222"><img border="0" width="18" height="18" style="width:.1898in;height:.1898in" id="_x0000_i1030" src="https://signaturehound.com/api/v1/png/map/default/007bff.png"></span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="padding:.75pt 0in .75pt 0in">
<p style="margin:.75pt;line-height:12.75pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#888888">1301 Beal Avenue, 1241 EECS Building<br>
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding:.75pt 3.75pt .75pt 0in">
<p style="margin:.75pt"><span style="color:#222222"><img border="0" width="18" height="18" style="width:.1898in;height:.1898in" id="_x0000_i1029" src="https://signaturehound.com/api/v1/png/website/default/007bff.png"></span><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="padding:.75pt 0in .75pt 0in">
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:.75pt;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.75pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:12.75pt">
<b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#007BFF"><a href="http://www.lnf.umich.edu/"><span style="color:#007BFF">LNF.umich.edu</span></a></span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3" style="border:none;border-bottom:solid #007BFF 1.5pt;padding:0in .75pt 6.0pt 0in">
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3" style="padding:6.0pt .75pt 0in 0in">
<table class="MsoNormalTable" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="30" style="width:22.5pt;padding:0in .75pt 0in 0in">
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:.75pt;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.75pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:0pt">
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/LurieNanofab"><span style="font-size:1.0pt;color:#1155CC;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="30" height="30" style="width:.3148in;height:.3148in" id="_x0000_i1028" src="https://signaturehound.com/api/v1/png/facebook/default/007bff.png"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td width="3" style="width:2.25pt;padding:0in 0in .75pt 0in"></td>
<td width="30" style="width:22.5pt;padding:0in .75pt 0in 0in">
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:.75pt;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.75pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:0pt">
<a href="https://twitter.com/LurieNanoFab"><span style="font-size:1.0pt;color:#1155CC;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="30" height="30" style="width:.3148in;height:.3148in" id="_x0000_i1027" src="https://signaturehound.com/api/v1/png/twitter/default/007bff.png"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td width="3" style="width:2.25pt;padding:0in 0in .75pt 0in"></td>
<td width="30" style="width:22.5pt;padding:0in .75pt 0in 0in">
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:.75pt;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.75pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:0pt">
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/lurie-nanofabrication-facility"><span style="font-size:1.0pt;color:#1155CC;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="30" height="30" style="width:.3148in;height:.3148in" id="_x0000_i1026" src="https://signaturehound.com/api/v1/png/linkedin/default/007bff.png"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</blockquote>
</div>
</body>
</html>