Protective gloves against pesticides - comparison of permeation test Methods

Risk assessment mostly equires the use of protective gloves while handling pesticides. In Germany 1997 nearly 30 % of all registered pesticides has be en labelled in this way. Following the directives of the EU components of p ersonal protective equipment must be certified. That means testing accordin g to European standards (CEN) if available. Otherwise national standards ma y be used. For testing gloves protective against pesticides the EN 374 and the German guideline BBA-3-3/2 are to consider. This study should show if t he use of EN 374 only covers the purpose of plant protection. Both methods base on the same idea of permeation, but show differences in the test proce dures and the definition of limit values. The measurement carried out with both test methods (EN 374-3 and BBA-3-3/2) lead to equivalent results for the permeation. As one consequence the BBA- 3-3/2 has been changed. Chemicals and glove materials used show significants influence on the perme ation in the same way. Therefore at the present time a list of selected che micals (solvents) is necessary as usual testing with BBA-3-3/2. Revision of EN 374 should consider this fact.