Chemical standard EN 374
The EN 374 standard applies to gloves intended for use in environments with the highest risk to hands, i.e. where the III category gloves are required. It covers the protection against chemical and biological agents. We set resistance and hand protection scales in three key areas:
It is the passage of a chemical substance through porous materials, seams, holes (penetration of the glove at the mechanical level). Glove penetration resistance is checked by performing a leak test using air and water. Testing is the random selection of a series of products for testing factory defects against a set acceptable quality level (AQL).
It is defined as the process in which a chemical substance passes through the material of a protective glove (penetration of the glove at the molecular level). The rubber and plastic coatings used in the gloves are barriers to chemicals. The penetration test takes into account two parameters – time that elapses from the contact of the glove with the hazardous substance to its penetration, and the amount of substances specified in the standard (there are 18 of them on the list).
Sometimes, protective gloves can act as a sponge, absorbing liquids and preventing their contact with the skin. This leads to the gloves breaking down. These are changes that deprive the glove material of its protective properties. Signs of decomposition are: flaking, swelling, loss of plasticity, change in colour, dimensions or appearance, hardening, softening, etc.
Let us remember about special attention when choosing anti-chemical gloves and familiarizing yourself with all available markings.
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