Posted By Martin Taylor Can anybody advise me on suitable gloves/gauntlets for working in a cleaning tank with solvents (dip tank used to clean paint scrapers). The tank is in an unheated 'out house' so gets cold over night. The standard nitrile gloves being used do not give any thermal protection. The solvent is 99% acetone. I believe that only nitrile gloves are suitable for this but can anybody advise suitable alternatives that include some thermal insulation thanks Martin

Posted By Karen Todd Tried cotton liners? KT

Posted By garyh Maybe I am patronising you but I have to say that I am alarmed by the idea of cleaning "in a tank" which has contained acetone. I assume that you have considered the exposure to Acetone vapours and also the fact that Acetone is highly flammable. Remember that under COSHH you have to consider elimination / substitution etc.

Posted By Konstanty Budkiewicz Martin, I assume that your question arises from a formal CoSHH assessment of the cleaning of scrapers and the occasional emptying of Acetone waste. My working glove selection chart used to support CoSHH assessments indicates that maximum exposure by immersion in Acetone is as follows: 10 minutes - Disposable Safeskin nitrile or Marigolds (too cold for you in Winter) 10 to 60 minutes - Mappa neoprene or North Strongflex PVC (provides some cold protection) As suggested earlier, cold-resistant gloves such as Marigolds and a cotton insert could be a good interim starting point; however, I suggest that the current process that you are dealing with is a legacy event and may not now be suitable and sufficient to protect all concerned. Particularly, can the PPE be cut by sharps?, is local ventilation suitable?, lighting-is it safe in this working environment? As background reading, the associated web link provides additional information on cold process glove protection - http://www.ansell.eu/ind...standards_en511&lang=EN. If time permits, I suggest that you review the associated buy-in cost, environmental impact and disposal costs of current Acetone usage. This could drive down your undertaking's process production costs. A radical alternative solution may even remove the aforementioned process shed, acetone and need for said PPE. Kon CMIOSH

Posted By Martin Taylor thanks guys for all of the responses so far. In a bit of feedback - yes this is a process where a small tanks sits on a stand and hold enough acetone to submerge the scraper - the area is very well ventilated being semi external. On the idea of using an al;ternative to acetone - I would be very pleased to hear of alternative, safer cleaner methods. Thanks for the comments on different glove types - not heard of VITON before - can you give me an example of this please. thanks Martin

Posted By Chris Packham Martin 1. The ONLY gloves that are suitable for acetone are butyl (or laminates such as the Safety 4H). Nitrile is not suitable. Permeation of even thicker nitrile gauntlets with acetone under actual use will occur often within seconds! 2. Manufacturers' published breakthrough times cannot be taken as indicative of the level of performance you will get under actual conditions of use. EN374 (the standard for glove permeation testing) actually recognises this. Furthermore, EN374 has a flaw in that gloves tested for permeation are tested at 23 deg C which is not what you find when you insert a hand into a glove. 3. Other factors, such as degradation, stretching, flexing, pressure, temperature, abrasion, etc. can all affect a glove's actual performance. 4. In a study on glove performance under actual conditions of use we found that the time taken for permeation breakthrough can vary enormously and has little in common with manufacturers' published times. In one case the times varied (same glove, same solvent, different tasks, manufacturer's published breakthrough time 36 mins.) from over 2 hours to just 5 minutes! 5. Selection of the correct glove is not as simple as many assume. I frequently find gloves being used that are not protecting although neither employer nor employee are aware of this. I am out of the office for the rest of the week, but if you need more drop me an e-mail and I will see what I can do to help. Chris