Change in Tensile Strength and Ultimate Elongation of Neoprene and Nitrile Gloves After Repeated Exposures to Acetone and Thermal Decontaminations

Details

• Personal Author:
  Gao, Peng-Fei ; Tomasovic B ; Wassell J
• Description:
  The purpose of this study was to investigate the change in tensile properties of neoprene and nitrile gloves after repeated exposure to acetone and thermal decontamination. Neoprene (Stanzoil N-440) and nitrile synthetic rubber (Ansell Edmont 37-155) gloves were cut into circular swatches with a diameter of about 18 cm. Thicknesses of the swatches were measured in five places and the mean thickness was calculated. Each swatch was mounted at the base of a cylinder-like exposure chamber. Neat 99.7% acetone was poured onto the outer glove surface and the contact continued until steady-state permeation was fully established. The chamber was then disassembled and the swatch was air dried inside a fume hood for about 3 hours followed by thermal decontamination at 100 degrees C for 16 hours using an incubator. Dumbbell-shaped samples were punched from the exposed swatches using an Arbor Press. The tensile strength and ultimate elongation of these samples were measured according to the ASTM D412 Method using the Lloyd Material Testing Instrument. The exposure/decontamination procedure was repeated for a maximum of 10 cycles. Results from each exposure/decontamination cycle were compared with those obtained for the new glove materials. For neoprene exposed to acetone, the mean tensile strength for the new swatches was 15.0 MPa. The tensile strength consistently decreased to 8.8 MPa after nine exposure/decontamination cycles. Multiple comparisons indicated that the mean tensile strengths between the new swatches and each exposure/decontamination group were significantly different (P = 0.05). For nitrile exposed to acetone, the mean tensile strength for the new swatches, 37.1 MPa, remained virtually unchanged, 36.0 MPa after nine exposure/ decontamination cycles (P = 0.05). Similar tendencies were observed for the ultimate elongation measurements. These results indicate that exposure to acetone and/or thermal decontamination might degrade neoprene gloves but not nitrile gloves. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Acetone Nitriles Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Protective Clothing Safety
• Keywords:
  Acetones Exposure-levels Gloves Occupational-exposure Personal-protective-equipment Protective-clothing Protective-equipment
• Publisher:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  NPPTL - National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory ; DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  41-42
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20024786
• Citation:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 8-13, 2004, Atlanta, Georgia. Fairfax, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 2004 May; :41-42
• CAS Registry Number:
  Acetone (CAS RN 67-64-1) ; Polychloroprene (CAS RN 9010-98-4)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2004
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 8-13, 2004, Atlanta, Georgia
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:fac8a55ddeb64ce4f7d8302712df65e9fb942efd7f0c40baba51205cbb8b58f2836c1f8bff435cb256f0c3ebdfef07aac527e4d0fe610141f035f53dccfaab82
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/196410/cdc_196410_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.48 MB ]