Chemical Resistant Gloves

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Chemical resistant gloves protect your hands from solvents and isocyanates when mixing paints, spraying paint, and cleaning painting equipment. When these chemicals touch your skin, they can irritate or burn the skin or cause an allergic reaction. They may also pass right through the skin and cause harm to other parts of your body, just as if you inhaled them.

MSDSs commonly call for “impervious gloves” to protect the hands when working with solvents. This statement is not very helpful and is a bit misleading. Gloves that are not resistant to a particular solvent will allow the solvent to pass through in just seconds. Even the most resistant glove will eventually allow the solvent to pass through and contaminate your skin. It is simply a matter of time. Solvents can also severely degrade gloves, causing them to deform and fall apart. Similar problems exist for isocyanates.

To prevent skin exposure, you must select a glove that is sufficiently resistant to the solvent or isocyanate to prevent it from passing through while you are wearing the glove. All gloves must be replaced periodically.

Nitrile gloves for solvents and isocyanates

The most resistant glove to the wide variety of solvents and isocyanates commonly used in an autobody shop is a nitrile glove. These gloves can be purchased in styles that are flexible and will not interfere with your ability to do the job. However, if immersed in a solvent or splashed by a solvent, these gloves will not stop the solvent from penetrating for very long. Discard and replace your nitrile glove if it comes in direct contact with a solvent and after each painting cycle.

Protection against dusts

Gloves may also be worn to prevent contaminating your hands with dust during tasks like sanding. Heavy metals, such as lead or cadmium, are often found in this dust. Unless you wear gloves and wash up properly, the dust can easily get into your mouth and harm you when you handle food, beverages or cigarettes. You can wear any rubber gloves to prevent this because, unlike a solvent, the dust will not pass through a glove. Always wash your hands after removing gloves and before eating, drinking or smoking.