Glove choice - it does matter

I missed this over the Thanksgiving week, so I'm assuming others did too. I've been adamant over the years (1, 2 and 3) about not just grabbing the nitrile gloves because they are readily available and because of their resistance to a broad range of chemicals. That range is broad, but not broad enough. Since different polymers and rubbers are soluble (or swellable) in different solvents, you need to be prepared to use different gloves in different situations.

Jyllian Kemsley in the C & ENew Safety Zone blog reposted this photo showing what can happen with the wrong gloves are worn:

"The organic solvent dichloromethane carried 3,4-ethylenedioxypyrrole through this researcher’s nitrile gloves. The compound polymerized onto the person’s fingers, forming poly-3,4-ethylenedioxypyrrole, a blue-black conductive polymer of unknown toxicity."

(The large number of conjugated double bonds absorb the short wavelengths and give the polymer its blue/black color, typical of many conductive polymers.)

Before you glove up, either refer to the MSDS (yes, they really do have useful information at times like this) or any of the manufacturer's compatibility charts. This page has a link to most of the manufacturers (scroll down to find them). There is no excuse for these types of images to ever occur (although it is going into my archive, since I'm sure I'll be repeating this warning in future. Sadly.)

Previous Years

December 3, 2013 - Dow Chemical to Drop the Chemical, in both Word and Deed

December 3, 2012 - The Return of the "Perfect Polymer"

December 3, 2010 - Reviewing a Paper - Round 2

December 3, 2010 - Bridgestone Cutting Rubber Usage