I work in a laboratory

Key issues

Reactions to Natural Rubber Latex (NRL) affect all staff working in the Pathology because:

They have an increased risk of developing NRL allergy through the repeated use of NRL gloves
They have a statutory responsibility to reduce risk of sensitisation in themselves, their colleagues and their patients
They may need to manage sensitised patients

All laboratory staff should ensure that they have and are familiar with:

An organisational Policy
- on action to protect staff who are allergic to NRL
- on action to protect patients who are allergic to NRL

An organisational purchasing programme which only supports powder-free/low-protein latex glove use and wherever possible NRL-free equipment and product purchasing

Organisational and local Glove selection guidesto minimise NRL and chemical exposure [37kb]

An organisational NRL-free resuscitation policy. ALL products must be latex free, as it makes no sense to use NRL when it may have been the cause of anaphylaxis.

Occupational Health pre-screening questionnaires

Risk-assessments undertaken for your specific department which must include NRL

A local protocol which describes the management of NRL allergy within your specific department Ward and Department Protocols [179kb]

A database of generic and specialty specific products which do and do not contain NRL which is regularly up-dated which needs to be specific for each department due to range of possible products used
Minimisation of purchase of NRL-containing products by checking with manufacturers ~ possibly labelled
A local or shared NRL-free trolley or box for use with sensitised patients
A Occupational Health/Health and Safety reporting mechanism for effective diagnostics of in-post staff

Synthetic alternative gloves for use by sensitised staff and for use with patients Glove materials [37kb]

A named responsible person for managing Health and Safety

Allergic persons must be informed of reagents and equipment containing latex

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Glove Selection for Laboratories

Biohazard resistance and inoculation injury gives the following information:

Consider:

When selecting gloves, which should be part of the COSHH Assessment for the use of any chemicals, some of the factors to be considered are:

The nature of the chemicals to which exposure might occur
The concentration and/or temperature of the chemicals both of which can affect penetration rates
The frequency and duration of contact with the chemical
The requirement for the glove material to be robust and resistant to
physical damage such as tearing or abrasion or where inoculation injury risks exist, for example phlebotomy, contaminated machine probe manipulations etc.
The need for dexterity and "feel" with the glove on
The extent of protection - hand only or wrist and forearm as well?

At the same time, gloves should not be used as a substitute for good experimental procedure which, as far as is practicable, should keep contamination well clear of all skin contact including hands.

Contact glove manufacturers for guidance on selecting gloves for use with particular chemicals.

Glove materials

Chemically resistant gloves come in a variety of materials such as natural rubber or latex, butyl rubber, neoprene, nitrile, polyethylene, PVC, PVA etc. sometimes in combination and in differing thickness and style. Each material protects well against certain chemicals but poorly against others. The choice of material and its thickness depends on its resistance to permeation taking into account the factors listed above: - commonly, manufacturers' literature and performance tables have to be consulted to find this information.

Manufacturers' tables of glove performance often refer to the following indicators:

Breakthrough Time ~ the time, in minutes, for a measurable amount of chemical to pass through the glove material, one side of the glove being immersed in that chemical
Permeation Rate ~ Obvious meaning; - the units are milligrams per square metre per minute
Degradation ~ Loss of physical quality, perhaps becoming brittle or soft. May be measured as change in tensile strength after fixed periods of immersion
Useful Time ~ A parameter combining permeation and degradation data.

Disposable Gloves

Disposable gloves are often chosen for routine laboratory work because they are cheap and convenient. Unfortunately, the most popular choice, latex gloves are fully effective only against water-based solutions and are almost transparent to many organic solvents. The problems with latex gloves, including possible allergic reaction to the latex itself, have been laid out in an article for the American Chemical Society entitled " Latex Glove Alert ".

Article

Nitrile disposable gloves may give more protection in certain cases.

Some Rules for Glove Use

Select gloves which are resistant to the chemicals you may be exposed to. Check the information sources listed below and also consult the relevant Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) which may recommend a particular glove material.

Select gloves of the correct size and fitting; gloves that are too small are uncomfortable and may tear whereas overlarge gloves may interfere with dexterity. In some cases, such as use of HF, it may be advisable to select gloves that can be removed very rapidly in an emergency.

Before use, check gloves (even new ones) for physical damage such as tears or pin- holes and for previous chemical damage: this is especially important when dealing with dangerous materials such as HF.

When working, it may be advisable to wash the external surface of the gloves frequently with water.

Some gloves, especially lightweight disposables, may be flammable: keep hands well away from naked flames or other high temperature heat sources. When removing gloves, do so in a way that avoids the contaminated exterior contacting the skin.

Wash hands after removing gloves.
Dispose of contaminated gloves properly.
Do not attempt to re-use disposable gloves.
Never wear possibly contaminated gloves outside of the laboratory or to handle telephones, computer keyboards, etc.