Resistance of Glove Materials to Permeation by Agricultural Pesticides

Using a previously developed test procedure that allows the concurrent measurement of permeation of the active ingredient and the carrier solvent, 115 permeation tests (in triplicate) have been performed with approximately 20 pesticide formulations and 13 glove materials. The carrier solvent was generally found to permeate sooner and at a much higher rate than the active ingredient. The permeation behavior of the formulations containing solvents generally mirrored that of the carrier solvents in neat form. Pertinent to permeation resistance, the better glove materials were nitrile rubber, butyl rubber, and plastic film laminates; natural rubber and polyvinyl chloride were poorer barriers.