All You Need to Know About Disposable Nitrile Gloves

Disposable gloves are very much necessary if you work in the fields of medicine, automotive, body art, or food processing. Users do not usually think much about the disposable gloves as they are of one-time use. But you should definitely be aware about the composition of the disposable gloves you are going to use for your needs. Companies like Ethicon and others produce gloves of many materials like vinyl, latex, and others but nitrile is becoming the material of choice for single-use gloves. You also need to pay attention to the nitrile gloves price. The prime advantage of nitrile glove is that it is a synthetic material and does not cause skin allergies. Choosing the best nitrile gloves can depend on the need and the application. 

There are actually two categories of nitrile gloves which are medical and industrial grades. 

Industrial-grade nitrile gloves are the best option if your need for disposable gloves includes handling harsh chemicals and solvents. Automotive industries along with janitorial and food services use this grade of nitrile gloves for most of their purposes. Nitrile gloves of industrial grade have high chemical resistance and also have an important feature of puncture resistance. They are not as stringent as medical-grade nitrile gloves. 

Medical-grade nitrile gloves are used when there is a risk of contact with environmental contaminants or blood-borne pathogens. They are also known as examiner gloves and are mostly used in hospitals, laboratories, dental offices, and clean rooms. As the risks are high, these medical-grade gloves must be properly tested and they also have to meet specific guidelines from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Medical gloves come in three grades from class I to class III. Class I gloves have less regulatory controls and are considered to be less risky. But class II gloves have a higher risk than class I and also have higher regulatory controls to ensure safety and effectivity. The highest risk gloves are of class III and need the approval of the FDA before they are marketed. 

1. The hand-shaped formers of ceramic are sent through water and acid to remove residue after cleaning. They are then dried up to remove the remaining liquids if any.

2. The formers are then dipped in a mixture of calcium carbonate and calcium nitrate to solidify the nitrile and they are dried up again.

3. The formers are dipped into a tank of NBR compound and the NBR coating should be heated to form the gloves.

4. They are then dipped in water tanks to remove residues and chemicals. This is a crucial step for medical and food-grade gloves.

5. The cuffs are rolled to make them easier to remove and less likely to tear once the leaching once done with leaching and they may undergo leaching again after beading.

6. To create a glove for easier donning, they undergo chlorination or polymer coating. Chlorination exposes the gloves to chlorine to make them harder and slicker. Polymer coating lubricates the glove surface by addition of a polymer layer.

7. Now they undergo stripping where workers remove them from the formers by hand.

Report this Page