ABSTRACT
There is an enormous range of chemical protective gloves available. These differ in design, method of fabrication, and in the materials used to provide the protection against chemical insult. Gloves and other protective clothing are designed either to protect the environment from the person, such as in semiconductor manufacture, or to guard the body from environmental insult. The health protection goals for gloves may focus on two purposes: to prevent localized damage of the skin from irritant, corrosive, or other harm or to limit the systemic uptake of chemicals through the skin. In this chapter we focus specifically on the latter use, although many of the concepts that we discuss can also be applied to the protection of the hands from acute hazards.
