Ann. occup. Hyg., Vol. 47, No. 4, pp.

305–312, 2003
© 2003 British Occupational Hygiene Society
Published by Oxford University Press
DOI: 10.1093/annhyg/meg043

Permeation of 70% Isopropyl Alcohol Through

Surgical Gloves: Comparison of the Standard Methods
ASTM F739 and EN 374
ERJA A. MÄKELÄ*, SINIKKA VAINIOTALO and KIMMO PELTONEN†
Department of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health,

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Topeliuksenkatu 41 a A, FIN-00250 Helsinki, Finland

Received 1 July 2002; in final form 17 December 2002

Standard test methods ASTM F739 and EN 374 were compared by assessing the permeation of
70% isopropyl alcohol (2-propanol) through seven brands of surgical gloves. The two standards
differ in the flow rates of the collection medium and in the chemical permeation rate at which
the breakthrough time (BTT) is detected, the EN detection level being 10 times higher than the
permeation rate used by ASTM. In a departure from the EN standard method, a 4 h testing
time was used instead of 8 h. All of the tested gloves were from the same manufacturer and were
made from either natural rubber (NR) (six brands) or chloroprene rubber (CR) (one brand).
Two of the NR glove brands were double layered. For the thin NR gloves (0.22, 0.28 and
0.27 mm) the permeation rates were higher throughout the tests with a flow rate of 474 ml/min
(EN) of the collection medium (nitrogen) compared with the permeation rates obtained with a
flow rate of 52 ml/min (ASTM). These resulted in BTTs of 4.6, 6.5 and 7.6 min (EN) and 4.8, 6.5
and 9.1 min (ASTM), respectively. No statistical difference could be observed between the BTT
values obtained with the two standard methods for any of the thin gloves. Thus, although the
ASTM standard has a lower criterion for the detection of permeation, it does not necessarily
produce shorter BTTs. For the better barriers the methods yielded more equivalent permeation
rate curves and thus the EN BTTs were longer than the ASTM BTTs: the EN results were 21,
80, 122 and >240 min compared with the ASTM results of 12, 32, 38 and 103 min for glove thick-
nesses of 0.37 (NR), 0.22 + 0.22 (double layered NR), 0.31 + 0.29 (double layered NR) and
0.19 mm (CR), respectively.

Keywords: gloves; isopropyl alcohol; permeation; 2-propanol; standards; surgical

INTRODUCTION Chemical permeation of a volatile test chemical is

The European standard EN 374 (European Commit-
tee for Standardization, 1994) and the American
Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard
F739 (ASTM, 1999) describe similar test methods for
measuring chemical permeation through protective
materials. Both standards define the same test cell
with two chambers, a flow-through chamber for the
collection medium and a chamber with an inlet for a
test chemical. A sample of the protective material
being studied is clamped between the chambers.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
E-mail: erja.makela@ttl.fi
†Current address: National Veterinary and Food Research
Institute, PO Box 45, FIN-00580 Helsinki, Finland
measured periodically from the nitrogen or air collec-
tion medium.
Both standards have been developed in order to
assess how quickly and to what extent a chemical can
gain access to the skin through protective clothing.
Breakthrough time (BTT) and steady-state perme-
ation rate (SSP) have been established as criteria of
the resistance to permeation. The BTT is the time
between the application of the test chemical onto the
outer surface of the sample material and detection of
the test chemical permeating the material with a
specified rate (Pb). In the ASTM standard, this defin-
ition applies to ‘the normalized breakthrough time’.
The SSP is the value from which the permeation rate
does not grow and only the ASTM standard requires
its measurement. The major differences in the two
standards are the Pb and the flow rate of the gaseous

305
306 E. A. Mäkelä, S. Vainiotalo and K. Peltonen
collection medium. The EN standard has a Pb that is
10 times higher than the ASTM standard. The flow
rate in the EN standard (5 test cell vol/min corre-
sponding to 420–520 ml/min) can also be 10 times
higher than in the ASTM (50–150 ml/min).
The measurement of the maximum permeation rate
demands that additional factors that can restrict the
mass transfer must be minimized. A slow desorption
rate of a chemical from the material surface decreases
the permeation rate. The desorption rate can in some
cases be improved by increasing the flow rate of the
gaseous collection medium (Schwope et al., 1988b;
Que Hee, 1996; Anna et al., 1998). On the other
hand, this leads to dilution of the test chemical in the
collection medium, thus affecting the detection limit
of the permeation rate. There are a few previous
studies about the influence of the flow rate on the
permeation results (Mellström et al., 1989, 1991;
Mellström, 1991a,b,c; Zellers and Sulewski, 1993).
Only five tests in these studies (Anna et al., 1998)
have been carried out with the collection medium
flow rates as defined by the two standards and the
large standard test cell (glove sample diameter inside
the cell 5.1 cm). These studies clearly state that in
some tests an increase in the flow rate can yield
higher SSP values, but the differences in BTTs have
not been considered significant. A theoretical evalu-
ation has shown that the BTTs are longer if the
flow rates are increased (Schwope et al., 1988b).
However, at the time of the Schwope study, calcula-
tion of the BTT was based on the detection limit of
the analytical method. The current calculation is now
based on a fixed permeation rate (Pb) and thus a re-
evaluation is needed.
Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) (2-propanol) is frequently
used as a disinfectant or a solvent for other chemicals
in a number of healthcare products. IPA can be an
irritant and can dry the skin or permeate through
Table 1. Glove materials
Glove Material No. of test samples
Biogel® Super Sensitive NRa + BCb 40
Regent Surgical NR 40
Biogel® NR + BC 21
Biogel® Orthopaedic NR + BC 21
Biogel® Indicator NR + BC
Inner glove 21
Outer glove 21
Biogel® Reveal NR + BC
Inner glove 21
Outer glove 21
Skinsense™ N CRc + BC 40
aNaturalrubber.
bBiogel® coating.
cChloroprene rubber.
the skin to the systemic circulation (Jensen, 1981;
Fiserova-Bergerova et al., 1990). It is also known to
be able to permeate through rubber gloves. The danger
in its permeation through the gloves to the skin is that
it may transfer other hazardous components in solu-
tion. For industrial gloves, the permeation of 100%
IPA has been frequently studied, but only a few
permeation tests have been reported for surgical or
examination gloves. BTTs as low as 1 min have been
reported (Mellström et al., 1992; Forsberg and Keith,
1999). Due to the high expected permeability, short
BTTs and the common use of diluted IPA, we
selected 70% IPA for use in these tests instead of
100%.
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The permeation of 70% IPA was studied through
single layer natural rubber (NR), double layer NR
and single layer chloroprene (CR) surgical gloves
according to the ASTM F739 and the EN 374 stand-
ards. The permeation results were compared between
single and double layer gloves and gloves of different
materials and thicknesses. As all the tests were
carried out by both standards, the effects of the
different flow rates could be evaluated for the perme-
ation of IPA.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The seven brands of surgical gloves (Table 1) were
supplied by SSL International plc (Oldham, UK). Six
of the glove materials had a polymeric Biogel® inner
coating. Two brands were double gloves with a dark
green glove to be worn underneath a pale yellow one;
this allows holes in the gloves to be seen during
surgical operations. The test chemical was made by
mixing together isopropyl alcohol (p.a. grade; Merck)
and HPLC grade water in the proportions 70:30 (v:v).
Test samples with an average diameter of 9.0 ±
0.1 cm were cut from the palms of the gloves. The
Thickness (mm) Weight per unit area
(mean ± SD) (g/m2) (mean ± SD)
0.22 ± 0.01 197 ± 6
0.28 ± 0.01 220 ± 7
0.27 ± 0.02 244 ± 11
0.37 ± 0.01 302 ± 6
0.22 ± 0.01 199 ± 5
0.22 ± 0.01 202 ± 5
0.31 ± 0.01 251 ± 5
0.29 ± 0.01 241 ± 6
0.19 ± 0.01 255 ± 8
 2-Propanol permeation through surgical gloves
diameters were measured in three directions for every
sample. Glove samples were weighed using an
analytical balance with a precision of 0.1 mg. The
weight per unit area values were calculated. The
sample thicknesses were measured (Ames M034 E;
Shirley Developments Ltd) using a pressure of 3.4 kPa
and measuring diameter of 28.7 mm (Table 1). Three
values were measured for each sample. The samples
were not inspected for structural imperfections before
the chemical permeation testing took place.
As required by both standards, ASTM F739 and
EN 374, a circular glove sample was mounted
between the two chambers of the standard test cell.
Collection medium was set to flow through the
chamber, which had the inner surface of the glove
sample as one wall. Sampling of the collection medium
for chemical analysis was then started. The test
chemical was then injected into the chamber with the
outer surface of the glove sample, at the starting time
for the BTT determination. Sampling was terminated
after 4 h, or earlier if the test chemical was found to
permeate the glove material at a steady rate. For the
EN standard, values in excess of a Pb of 1.0 µg/cm2/min
would have sufficed. The use of a more appropriate
testing time considering the usage of disposable
gloves, i.e. 4 instead of 8 h, was the only modification
made to the standards in this study. The laboratory
and the collection medium temperatures were kept at
23.0 ± 1.0°C and the test chemical temperature was
adjusted before the test to 23.0 ± 0.1°C using a water
bath.
BTT is the time between the application of the test
chemical into the test cell and the time when the
permeation rate exceeds a Pb of 0.1 µg/cm2/min
(ASTM) or 1.0 µg/cm2/min (EN). At least three
parallel tests were carried out and the final BTT result
is the average of the three measurements. The perme-
ation rate (P, µg/cm2/min) is calculated as follows in
the open loop methods (i.e. without re-circulating the
collection medium).
P = c × v/A (1)
where c is the test chemical concentration (mg/l), v is
the collection medium flow rate and A is the exposed
area of the test sample. According to the EN standard
it is assumed that the entry of the test chemical into
the collection medium is constant between two
consecutive samplings. Thus the BTT (min) is calcu-
lated from the first degree equation:
BTT = t1 + (t2 – t1) × (Pb – P1)/(P2 – P1) (2)
where t is the time from the injection of the test chem-
ical into the test cell (min), index 1 refers to the first
measuring point just before permeation exceeds the
Pb defined by the standard and index 2 refers to the
307
first measuring point after which P has exceeded the
Pb.
The ASTM standard requires the calculation of the
average SSP, if the permeation rate reaches a
constant level. The SSP is calculated from a few
points at the end of the three parallel tests.
t-Tests (Microsoft® Excel 97 SR-2, T-test: Two-
Sample Assuming Equal Variances) with a signifi-
cance level of 0.05 were applied for statistical
comparisons between the ASTM and the EN standard
results or between results obtained with different
flow rates and the same permeation rate criteria.
Samples were injected (EC6W valve with valve
actuator E60; VICI Valco Instruments Co. Inc.,
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Houston, TX) from the selected collection medium
flow line [six port valve SF6P (VICI Valco Instru-
ments Co. Inc.) with a Smart Drive valve actuator
(Omnifit Ltd, Cambridge, UK)] into a gas chromato-
graph (Micromat HRGC 412, flame ionization
detector; HNU Nordion, Helsinki, Finland). Both
valves were controlled by a computer program
written for the system (Valve Actuator Program, GC
Version 1.0, Matti Jussila). A HP-5 column (30 m ×
0.53 mm, film thickness 2.65 µm; Hewlett Packard,
Little Falls, Wilmington, DE) was used at a constant
oven temperature of 45°C and a single chromato-
graphic run was used for the whole test. The sample
loop had been spliced from 1/16 inch and 1/8 inch
tubing (HNU Nordion) and its volume was ∼1 ml.
The flow rate of the helium carrier gas was 8.5 ml/min
and an injection split of 1:3 was used (Pekari et al.,
1992). The system allows the testing of between one
and three protective material samples at the same
time.
The collection medium was nitrogen gas, with flow
rates (Electronic flow meter 5182-0879; Hewlett
Packard) of 52.0 ± 1.4 (ASTM) or 474 ± 2 ml/min
(EN). The flows were split before the regulator valve
to avoid a build up of pressure in the system. The
splitting system consisted of plastic T-pieces and flow
restrictors (flow rate 474 ml/min, disposable 0.80 ×
38 mm needle; flow rate 52 ml/min, 0.45 × 12 mm
needle) for the free ends of the T-pieces. The tests of
rapid permeation (BTT < 20 min) were carried out
with one glove sample at a time and the tests with
slower permeation with two glove samples at the
same time. In both cases the sampling frequency into
the gas chromatograph was once every 2 min. The
sampling programs included regular injections of
pure nitrogen to ensure that the system had not
become contaminated.
For both the ASTM and EN methods, quantifica-
tion was carried out using the same range of calibra-
tion samples. Isopropyl alcohol calibration samples
were prepared in plastic laminated aluminum foil
bags at concentrations of 30–1500 µg/l in nitrogen.
Calibration samples were introduced through the
valve system into the chromatograph with plastic
308 E. A. Mäkelä, S. Vainiotalo and K. Peltonen

Table 2. Isopropyl alcohol (70% v/v) breakthrough times measured for surgical gloves with two collection medium flow rates and
calculated at two permeation rate levels
Breakthrough time (min) (mean ± SD)
Standard used EN 374 ASTM F739
Flow rate (ml/min) 474 52 474 52
Permeation rate (µg/cm2/min1)a 1.0 0.1 0.1 1.0
Biogel® Super Sensitive 4.6 ± 0.6b 4.8 ± 0.9b 2.1 ± 0.1 9.6 ± 1.7
Regent® Surgical 6.5 ± 0.5b 6.5 ± 0.9b 3.4 ± 0.3 12 ± 1
Biogel® 7.6 ± 0.5b 9.1 ± 1.5b 3.5 ± 0.7 18 ± 3
Biogel® Orthopaedic 21 ± 2 12 ± 0c 9.8 ± 1.4c 25 ± 2
Biogel® Indicator 80 ± 13d 32 ± 2c 30 ± 5c 121 ± 26d
Biogel® Reveal 122 ± 6 38 ± 3c 37 ± 3c 153 ± 18
Skinsense™ N >240 103 ± 7c 97 ± 2c >240

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The results which have been obtained under different test conditions and which do not differ statistically (P > 0.05) have been
indicated.
aThe level of the rate used for the determination of the BTT.
bThe ASTM result does not differ from the EN result statistically.
cThe result with the flow rate 52 ml/min does not differ statistically from the result with the flow rate 474 ml/min using

Pb = 0.1 µg/cm2/min.
dThe result with the flow rate 52 ml/min does not differ statistically from the result with the flow rate 474 ml/min using

Pb = 1.0 µg/cm2/min.

luer-lock syringes (10 ml, Discardit™ II; Becton
Dickinson, Madrid, Spain). Regression analyses
(Microsoft® Excel 97 SR-2) were applied to the cali-
bration responses and they produced linear lines
which were forced to 0 (r = 0.999 ± 0.001, P = 3.2 ±
0.1 × 10–15). Calibration was performed daily before
testing and was checked after each test.
RESULTS
The thicknesses of the gloves were 0.22, 0.28, 0.27
and 0.37 mm for the single layered NR gloves
Biogel® Super Sensitive, Regent® Surgical, Biogel®
and Biogel® Orthopaedic, respectively. Weight per
unit area values were 197, 220, 244 and 302 g/m2.
The Biogel® Indicator and Biogel® Reveal gloves
were double gloves, whose inner and outer gloves
had about the same thickness and weight per unit
area. Both Indicator gloves were equal in their thick-
ness and weight per unit area to the Super Sensitive
gloves and both Reveal gloves were approximately
the same as the standard Biogel® gloves. The CR
gloves, Skinsense™ N, were the thinnest of all at
0.19 mm, but they had a relatively high weight per
unit area value of 255 g/m2. Further information on
the gloves is shown in Table 1.
The BTTs using EN 374 to determine the perme-
ation of 70% IPA were 4.6, 6.5, 7.6, 21, 80 and 122
min for the NR gloves Biogel® Super Sensitive,
Regent® Surgical, Biogel®, Biogel® Orthopaedic,
Biogel® Indicator and Biogel® Reveal, respectively.
Following the same order of increasing weight per
unit area, the ASTM test results for the NR gloves
were 4.8, 6.5, 9.1, 12, 32 and 38 min. The permeation
rate of IPA did not reach the Pb of 1.0 µg/cm2/min
of the EN standard in the 4 h test with the Skin-
sense™ N gloves, but reached the ASTM Pb of
0.1 µg/cm2/min after 103 min. The BTTs and the
corresponding standard deviations are shown in
Table 2. Figure 1 illustrates the increase in the perme-
ation rates during the tests. The points where the
curves cross the Pb of 1.0 µg/cm2/min can be
observed as the corresponding BTTs. In all of the EN
testing, the BTTs for the parallel tests were within the
required range ± 20% of the mean.
The BTT results were calculated for both of the Pb
values and for both of the flow rates. When viewed
with the same flow rate (Table 2 and Fig. 2), the Pb
of 1.0 µg/cm2/min yielded about double or higher
BTT values than the Pb of 0.1 µg/cm2/min. When
comparing the ASTM results with the corresponding
EN results, it was found that the results of the thin NR
gloves (Biogel® Super Sensitive, Regent® Surgical
and Biogel®) did not differ statistically even though
there was a 10-fold difference in their Pb values. On
the other hand, for the different flow rates but the
same Pb, a statistical difference was found between
the BTTs at the Pb of 0.1 µg/cm2/min for the above
mentioned thin NR gloves and at the Pb of 1.0
µg/cm2/min for all the gloves except the Biogel®
Indicator gloves.
SSP rates according to the ASTM standard were
attained in the single layered NR testing. The average
SSPs of 70% IPA were 4.2, 4.2, 3.1 and 2.7 µg/cm2/min
for Biogel® Super Sensitive, Regent® Surgical,
Biogel® and Biogel® Orthopaedic, respectively. The
remaining gloves did not reach the SSP during the 4 h
test. SSP values were also calculated for the tests
using the EN flow rate of 474 ml/min: the SSPs of
IPA were 7.2, 5.3, 5.3, 3.2 and 1.7 µg/cm2/min for
 2-Propanol permeation through surgical gloves 309

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Fig. 1. Permeation of 70% isopropyl alcohol through surgical rubber gloves. The ASTM F739 test was made with a collecting
medium flow rate of 52 ml/min (crosses) and the EN 374 test with a rate of 474 ml/min (diamonds).
310 E. A. Mäkelä, S. Vainiotalo and K. Peltonen

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Fig. 2. Breakthrough times of 70% isopropyl alcohol through surgical rubber gloves calculated for different flow rates and
breakthrough detection levels. The test conditions are indicated for each series of points as collection medium flow rate
(ml/min)/breakthrough detection level (µg/cm2/min). The error bars represent the standard deviations.

Table 3. Average (n = 3) steady-state permeation rates (SSPs) tion against hazardous chemicals, it should have a
for isopropyl alcohol (70% v/v) BTT of at least 10 min and twice the working time
SSP (µg/cm2/min) (mean ± SD) with the chemical. The difference between the
Standard used EN 374 ASTM F739 recommended time of use for the gloves and the BTT
Flow rate (ml/min) 474 52 arises from the differences in conditions between
Biogel® Super Sensitive 7.2 ± 0.8 4.2 ± 0.2 everyday actual use and the standardized test method
Regent Surgical 5.3 ± 0.3 4.2 ± 0.6 (Leinster et al., 1990; Leinster, 1994). Thus the tested
Biogel® 5.3 ± 0.2 3.1 ± 0.5
single layered NR gloves cannot be recommended
against 70% IPA solutions, except for occasional
Biogel® Orthopaedic 3.2 ± 0.0 2.7 ± 0.2
very brief tasks. Even then there should not be
Biogel® Indicator 1.7 ± 0.1 Not detected
dermally toxic substances present which could
The SSP values are required by the ASTM F739 standard but permeate along with the IPA. For a short period of
not by EN 374. time, the double layered and the CR gloves should
provide protection.
This study shows that flow rate is a critical factor in
Biogel® Super Sensitive, Regent® Surgical, Biogel®, tests in which a gaseous collection medium is used.
Biogel® Orthopaedic and Biogel® Indicator gloves, Compared with the flow rate of 474 ml/min, the
respectively (Table 3). The SSPs differed statistically lower flow rate of 52 ml/min yielded lower perme-
significantly for the tests with different flow rates. ation rates throughout the tests and thus made the
BTTs longer in five of the seven test pairs when
DISCUSSION detected at the Pb of 1.0 µg/cm2/min and in three of
the seven test pairs when detected at the Pb of 0.1
Surgical or other thin rubber gloves may often µg/cm2/min (Table 2). The differences in the BTTs
provide insufficient protection against small organic with the different flow rates at a Pb of 1.0 µg/cm2/min
molecules. If the glove is to have any protective func- were so marked that they would influence how three
 2-Propanol permeation through surgical gloves
of the gloves (Regent® Surgical, Biogel® and Biogel®
Indicator) would be classified for protection against
IPA according to the EN standard.
The BTTs for the three thin NR materials (Biogel®
Super Sensitive, Regent® Surgical and Biogel®) were
about the same when tested using the two different
standards, despite the 10-fold difference in the Pb
values (Table 2 and Fig. 2). It seems that in the tests
of these three materials with the collection medium
flow rate of 52 ml/min the vaporization of IPA
suffered from the low mixing efficiency in the test
cell, which has been discussed by Anna et al. (1998).
Thus their BTTs became about twice as long as those
measured with the higher flow rate, if calculated at
the same Pb. Statistical examination of the BTTs
calculated at the same Pb revealed that the BTTs of
the better barriers (Biogel® Orthopaedic, Biogel®
Indicator, Biogel® Reveal and Skinsense™ N) did
not differ between the two flow rates in all but two
cases (Biogel® Orthopaedic and Biogel® Reveal, Pb
1.0 µg/cm2/min). The slow permeation probably
allowed better mixing and vaporization. Thus,
because of the difference in the Pb values, it was
possible that the ASTM method could yield clearly
shorter BTTs than the EN method for these good
barriers, as expected.
Anna et al. (1998) examined the effect of the
collection medium flow rate in the ASTM F739
method. They performed 176 chemical permeation
tests and concluded that since the SSP values
increase for many test chemicals when the flow rate
is increased, the standard method must be changed to
determine the maximum SSP. They reported BTTs
for five chemical/glove pairs with collection medium
flow rates of 50 and 500 ml/min and noticed that the
higher flow rate appeared to shorten the BTT,
although they did not detect any actual statistically
significant differences. The differences of our find-
ings compared with the Anna et al. study are due to
the different test chemicals and glove materials. In
other studies there is less evidence of the BTTs short-
ening with an increase in the collection medium flow
rate, but the tests have been performed under
different test conditions (Mellström et al., 1989,
1991; Mellström, 1991a,b,c; Zellers and Sulewski,
1993). In those studies a narrower range of collection
medium flow rates or much higher flow rates were
used compared with the EN and the ASTM standard
test conditions, if the flow rates are calculated as the
test cell volume changes per minute.
In the case of NR materials, the thicker the glove
material the longer the BTT values. The Regent®
Surgical glove, which is manufactured differently, was
in line with the other gloves. Its SSP and BTT values
measured under the standard conditions did not differ
from the corresponding values of the Biogel® gloves.
The weight per unit area was in between the Biogel®
Super Sensitive and the Biogel® gloves and its thick-
311
ness was the same as the Biogel® gloves. Thus there
was no evidence that the Biogel® polymer layer made
the NR material less permeable to IPA.
Skinsense™ N proved to be the best barrier against
IPA of the tested gloves. It was the thinnest of the
materials and the least permeable. CR surgical gloves
have also proved to be effective against meth-
acrylates and formaldehyde (Schwope et al., 1988a;
Mäkelä et al., 1999, 2003). However, the CR gloves
meant for healthcare are only sold as sterilized
surgical gloves, although they could also have poten-
tial in providing protection against hazardous chem-
icals, e.g. for laboratory workers. At present their
price may hinder their more extensive use outside the
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operating theatre.
The BTT values for the double layered gloves were
about five times longer than for the single layered
gloves of similar thicknesses in the ASTM test and
about 16 times longer in the EN test. Thus it can be
concluded that irrespective of the testing method, the
protection provided by double layered gloves against
IPA is more than double the protection provided by
single layered gloves. This observation can be
explained by the chemical having to adsorb, diffuse
and desorb twice and the differences in the concentra-
tion gradients driving the chemical across the
systems. The advantage of double gloving has been
noted previously for protection against microorgan-
isms and chemicals (Mellström, 1991a; Gerberding
et al., 1995; Heller and Greer, 1995; Page, 1997;
Mäkelä et al., 1999, 2003).
Even if the regulations require the use of a specific
standard test method when certifying chemical pro-
tective gloves, they do not forbid the use of other
available test results when selecting the gloves. Both
the standards, ASTM F739 and EN 374, can be used
to differentiate totally unsuitable gloves from gloves
which provide adequate protection. Often there is a
shortage of information when gloves are to be
selected. Therefore, the instructions for use, in add-
ition to the required standard information, should also
include information obtained with other test methods.
However, if the permeation test results are to be of
value, the applied methods must also be described.
Both standards are meant to specify a test method
which yields reproducible and comparable results
that describe the resistance of a protective material to
chemical permeation. The collection medium flow
rate of the ASTM method is 100 ± 50 ml/min, which
corresponds to 1.0 ± 0.5 chamber vol/min. This is
low and the range is also wide, which should be
considered as these factors may influence the perme-
ation results. On the other hand, the low flow rate
and thus the high concentration of the test chemical
in the collection medium allows the use of a low Pb
(0.1 µg/cm2/min). Thus permeation which cannot be
determined by the EN standard test can sometimes be
measured using the ASTM test. The higher flow rate
312 E. A. Mäkelä, S. Vainiotalo and K. Peltonen
of the EN test lessens the impact of the desorption
rate on the permeation results. The higher permeation
rate produced by the higher collection medium flow
rate also results in a steeper slope of the permeation
rate versus time curve, which makes determination of
the BTT more accurate. Thus the different conditions
of the two standards both have their advantages and
without a large number of comparable test results, it
is quite difficult to define which represents the better
way of determining the BTT.
Acknowledgements—The authors wish to express their grati-
tude to Matti Jussila, the scientist, the technician and the
computer programmer. The study was made possible by the
kind support of SSL International plc, Oldham, UK.
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Materials.
Anna DH, Zellers ET, Sulewski R. (1998) ASTM F 739
method for testing the permeation resistance of protective
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