Hi All. Does anyone have any experience with suitable glove material for spraying isocyanate. We are spraying small components here that sometimes have to be held in the hand. We are eliminating so far as possible having to hold the components but there are some where it may not be possible to provide a suitable jig or mounting stick. This leads to the sprayers aiming isocyanate paint at their hands. Internet research indicates that Butyl rubber may be the best material for MDI (we also have TDI containing paints) but does anyone have any information they can put my way on the breakthrough times for other materials?

Having just checked with my favourite source of glove data in Germany, what I have is the following:- MDI - there does not appear to be any glove that offers class 6 protection, i.e. a minimum permeation breakthrough time of >480 minutes. Butyl can offer a nominal 340 minutes and Viton a nominal 250 minutes TDI - Butyl can offer class 6 protection Note that these are the nominal breakthrough times according to EN374-3. What is achieved in practice can be very different due to a variety of influences, such as degradation, temperature, flexing, etc. You will also need to take into account the other chemicals that will be in the paint as these gloves may not provide the same level of protection. It is then possible that one of the other constituents of the paint may act as a vehicle and carry the isocyanate through the glove. None of the other common glove materials offer more that splash protection. One factor that you will also need to consider is that, from your description, the paint spray is directed at the gloved hand. This could also affect glove performance. There is a way of testing gloves for performance under actual conditions of use. If you want more on this PM me. Chris