Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Safety equipment

Safety equipment

greenyppols - 31-3-2005 at 20:53

I was wondering, which would be the best overall glove for protection? I understand latex isnt so hot for protection..

nitrile or I did see a post here concerning teflon gloves...opinions anyone? And I noticed a post about rubber aprons being a no-no for the nitric acid I was planning..what would be best for this? Overall I mean.

I dont mind $$ spent to save/protect/greatly improve my chances of survival...but I'd rather not have 3 sets of gloves, 2 aprons..

Also..hate to bother again...any brand of respirator to keep my lungs clear? (not including the years of cigarette smoking I did) I did see posts concerning gas masks, but I think I'd feel better with a half face(?)respirator, face shield and goggles

Thanks

cyclonite4 - 31-3-2005 at 22:09

I'm no authority on this (having only PVC gloves

), but I would go with teflon.

Chris The Great - 31-3-2005 at 22:32

I'd definatly go with teflon, as it seems to be inert to everything from what I've heard, even at fairly high temperatures.

I have noeprene gloves myself, which have withstood everything that has contacted them so far, which includes strong acids, solvents, etc. They are also black and go nearly up to my elbows, which provides an appealing 'mad scientist' image.

Nitrile is also apparently pretty good, no experience with it myself though.

Get a rubber apron anyway, even if it gets attacked by the nitric acid, it's still much better than it getting on you.

I personally would go with a full face gas mask, as it will be airtight. Many goggles are not airtight, and so if the gas is an irritant (nearly every gas you'd need a mask for is an irritant) then you're still screwed, even though can breath. If you want you can then wear a face shield over this to keep something from splashing into the filters, if the reaction is energetic or something.
I have no idea what brands you would want, but make sure it will deal with acids and halogens etc, finding out the hard way that your filter does not block HCN gas or Cl2 etc would not be fun. Always check to make sure your filter is rated for something before you try using it, surprises are not good when it comes to toxic gas!

Darkblade48 - 31-3-2005 at 23:21

I personally use nitrile gloves (since the chemistry department at my university "forces" us into buying them, or else we can't do the labs,

), and they're pretty decent. My hands are still intact, to say the least.

I've worked with chemicals like 6M HCl as well as NaOH, and other organic chemicals as well. Most of the other stuff like AgNO3, Cu(NO3)2, etc I've also gotten on the gloves, and my hands seemed fine afterwards.

The only complaint I have about nitrile gloves is the sweat factor. They leave your hands all sweaty afterwards.

cyclonite4 - 1-4-2005 at 02:06

Quote:

Originally posted by Darkblade48
I've worked with chemicals like 6M HCl as well as NaOH...

Wow!!! Be careful there...

I've been under the impression that nitrile rubber is impervious to nitric acid, is this correct?

neutrino - 1-4-2005 at 03:23

There are many chemical resistance guides on the internet that tell you this sort of thing.

I personally use nitrile whenever handling anything corrosive. They work for most things I’ve played with, but be careful around chlorinated solvents; DCM :mad:

goes right through. If you can find/afford butyl rubber gloves, they should be useful. According to many of the chem. resistance guides I’ve seen, they’re more or less impervious to everything.

Teflon gloves? I’ve never seen these before. Can you give any more information? I just hope that they’re not pure Teflon, imagine carrying something...

cyclonite4 - 1-4-2005 at 04:00

Quote:

Originally posted by neutrino
I just hope that they’re not pure Teflon, imagine carrying something...

I assume your suggesting something of teflon's use in non-stick pans? I doubt the gloves, if they exist, would have a smooth surface, but rather a 'gripping' pattern. That would be damn inconvenient though...

sparkgap - 1-4-2005 at 06:29

I avoid sweaty hands by putting in cotton undergloves before putting on my nitriles.

Feels bulky at first, but I got accustomed to it after a few weeks. Now I don't have to wipe my hands as much.

sparky (^_^)

gas mask

Magpie - 1-4-2005 at 09:59

I bought an MSA "Comfo Classic" half-face mask for use in epoxy painting my lab benchtop. It worked very well and I plan to use it for noxious gas/particulates experiments. It uses screw on cartridges. There is a good selection of cartridges to match most noxious gas/particulates. MSA is also well supported with technical information on cartridge applicability. It's available from Western Safety Products, Inc.

The mask was cheap enough but the cartridges get a little pricey.

Dave Angel - 1-4-2005 at 17:03

I would certainly recommend a pair of nitriles for most common things, but as neutrino says, DCM eats them right up. I've also found that conc. HNO3 will cause them to perish - 70% will too, though they will put up with a 50% solution for a short while.

According to my catalogue, nitriles will also succumb quickly to acetone, acetonitrile, chloroform, DMF, MEK, pyridine and trichloroethylene (and a few others that one is unlikely to bump into).

I've always wanted some butyls or proper acid resisting rubber gloves but never got round to getting some. Nitriles will do you fine for splashes and you can get them everywhere.

A good tip if you can't afford a full face respirator: go for a half face one and wear swimming goggles - works a treat. Also, half face respirators with organic filters are readily available at DIY stores where as full face tend to be more 'specialist'.

cyclonite4 - 1-4-2005 at 22:54

When it comes to using the swimming goggles, you wouldn't want to use regular, plastic ones (that little kids wear). They will get digested by dichloromethane and the like.

Go for snorkelling/scuba goggles, with the tempered glass and thick rubber seals. Even if the vapours can dissolve the rubber, it would take a lot longer, enough time for you to get out of the area so you can take them off. They will also have higher resistance to most acids (the tempered glass part).

Silentnite - 2-4-2005 at 05:39

Cyclonite's suggestion is a good one. If you use the dollar store "Safety goggles" all I can picture is the simpsons episode "AH my eyes! The goggles do nothing!"

I have several catalogs from the major chemlab suppliers, and from their charts it would appear that Neoprene would be the best bet.

Dave Angel - 2-4-2005 at 08:21

Yes, you certainly dont want the sort of goggles that come with this chemistry set!

However in my experience, fairly inexpensive swimming goggles have done a great job at keeping out DCM vapour, formaldehyde and ammonia. I'm not talking really tacky ones as you can get pairs with neoprene seals at very little cost. If you wear lab goggles over these will then you will have both the vapour protection and the level of splash/impact protection you would already have had.

If you fear you may splash in your face enough of a chemical with the potency to eat through things covering your eyes before you can wash it off, then you ought to invest in something a little more up-market. A full face respirator is ideal but a polycarb face shield (not all that expensive) to cover the goggles and half face mask will do instead - it's just a bit more fiddly to have 3 things to put on.

Bottom line:
If you have the money then buy the best.

cyclonite4 - 3-4-2005 at 00:28

Do those goggles in the picture even have lenses?

Doesn't appear so. Even if they do... the goggles appear to be something batman's assistant robin would be wearing.

I'm not sure if my snorkel goggles have neoprene seals, however the seals are resistant to acetone (from what I remember toluene is the ideal neoprene solvent), and are about 2mm thick.
One annoying problem I have with the snorkel goggles is that they cover the nose, and I assume this would get in the way of a respirator, so I am going to have to do something about that.

Does anyone know a good place to get polycarbonate sheet? All I know of is PMMA (plexiglass) from hardware stores, which I already have plenty of.

argyrium - 5-12-2015 at 14:24

I realize this is an old thread on gloves but just thought this site might be of help in making wise choices.

http://www.conservation-wiki.com/wiki/Health_%26_Safety:_Che...

Cheers

Yttrium2 - 6-12-2015 at 20:57

Always wear goggles, don't forget them.
Gloves seem to be dependent upon the chemicals involved. Some chemicals won't hurt your hands, but will chew through your gloves

Volanschemia - 8-12-2015 at 02:03

I'm sure most people already know this but DO NOT wear nitrile gloves if you are handling fuming Nitric Acid, which will set the gloves on fire on contact.

Sulaiman - 8-12-2015 at 05:24

I have several types of glove,
For daily protection against small spills and stains I use latex gloves (£0.1/pair)
When heating stuff up I have gardening gloves on (£1.0/pair)
For 'nasty' stuff I have one pair of butyl rubber gloves (£10/pair)

For some common chemicals latex is good, for others nitrile, neither resist all.
I use latex because we use nitrile at work so no misunderstandings.

annaandherdad - 8-12-2015 at 11:36

As the Australian Scientist says, nitrile gloves ignite on contact with concentrated (RFNA or WFNA) nitric acid. So do latex gloves. Get butyl gloves if you want to work with this stuff.

chemrox - 8-12-2015 at 13:33

I use nitrile for most applications but there are some really nasty inorganic cmpds that go right through it. Durability of TFE gloves? I don't know but TFE is generally molded and machined. I have seen TFE sleaves being made using powdered TFE, heat and molds. Consult Scientific machine & supply, Plainfield, NJ. Ask for Elizabeth.

ave369 - 9-12-2015 at 02:30

My stance is there is two type of glove: butyl and no glove. Since I don't have butyl, I stick to no gloves, and my hands look spectacular.

Volanschemia - 9-12-2015 at 03:37

I rarely use gloves, only if I'm dealing with something that's toxic through skin contact.