Handling Chemicals with Gloves
What to look for in choosing the perfect glove?
Working with hazardous chemicals requires careful consideration of protective equipment. Especially in laboratory and industrial environments, glove selection depends on factors such as chemical exposure, contact time, and material compatibility.
Different glove materials offer varying levels of chemical resistance, making it important to understand the specific requirements of each application—including potential risks during handling, routine tasks, and unexpected exposure.
HARPS Global brings together technical expertise from its R&D teams in Austria and Malaysia, supporting knowledge sharing on material selection, testing standards, and regulatory considerations related to chemical resistance.
Thickness & Material
Gloves used in contact with chemicals should align with applicable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) requirements. When selecting a glove, thickness is an important factor—thicker materials may provide increased durability, while thinner options can offer greater tactile sensitivity. Finding the right balance depends on the task, exposure level, and user needs.
Material selection also plays a key role. Natural rubber latex offers flexibility and comfort, while nitrile is commonly used where resistance to a range of chemicals is a consideration. Each material has different characteristics, making it important to evaluate suitability for the intended application.
In some environments, such as pharmaceutical or laboratory settings, dual-labelled gloves (medical device and PPE) may be used where both types of standards are relevant. Additional guidance on glove use, including considerations around exposure and handling practices, is available in the resource below.
What you should pay attention to when choosing disposable gloves to wear in a lab environment
Do disinfectants pose a danger to the safety of medical gloves?
As their name implies, disposable gloves are intended for single use. Numerous institutions and experts have explored whether it is advisable to disinfect medical gloves and have come to the same conclusion; they strongly advise against this practice.
In hectic clinical settings, however, it has become common practice to continue to wear the same pair of medical gloves and use disinfectant rather than to changing gloves. Even though this may save time, such a habit can lead to disastrous consequences that most glove users are unaware of.
Using disinfectants on gloves increases the risk of weakening the glove material and thus, exposes patients and healthcare workers to high-risk situations.
Safety should never be put at stake for the sake of time or cost savings. For sempermed, it is important to communicate this matter to the user for his or her own safety as well as to not endanger other people’s health. Therefore, we recommend against using disinfectants to come contact with gloves.
Learn more about the use of disinfectant and medical gloves.