Schutzhandschuhe für den Umgang mit Pflanzenschutzmitteln : Permeationsprüfmethoden im Vergleich

Risk assessment mostly requires the use of protective gloves while handling pesticides. In Germany 1997 nearly 30 % of all registered pesticides has been labelled in this way. Following the directives of the EU components of personal protective equipment must be certified. That means testing according to European standards (CEN) if available. Otherwise national standards may 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 the 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 procedures 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 permeation in the same way. Therefore at the present time, a list of selected chemicals (solvents) is necessary as usual testing with BBA-3-3/2. Revision of EN 374 should consider this fact.