Across Australian industry, workers routinely use acetone to clean surfaces, degrease machinery and dissolve paint, rubber, sealants, varnishes, plastics and resin. It makes the job easy, sure. But acetone also has the potential to damage the skin and enter the body if workers don’t have PPE that is fit for purpose.
Workers relying on standard nitrile gloves may not have much time before acetone permeates. Wearing thicker gloves or multiple layers of gloves can be inefficient, slowing work down and reducing dexterity, especially for precision tasks. But finding gloves that are up to the job hasn’t always been straightforward.
Until now.
Ansell’s new TouchNTuff™ 93-800 gloves kick protection to the next level, providing at least fifteen minutes of acetone resistance in a convenient, disposable glove. The gloves have Type A chemical resistance under EN374, the European standard for assessing chemical risk. This is a benchmark for protective gloves, designed to help protect wearers from chemical and biological hazards.
The level of protection is thanks to the MICROCHEM multi-layer barrier technology used in the design. Latex is also folded into the layers, so it doesn’t directly touch the skin - a smart choice for those with latex allergies. The gloves offer a flexible, comfortable feel and textured fingers to optimise dexterity for precision tasks, like cleaning and degreasing machinery.
The bright orange colour dials up visibility and enables fast foreign object detection in laboratories and manufacturing. The gloves come up over the wrist for added protection, and are antistatic and suitable for working with sensitive electronics.
In addition, the gloves offer abrasion (level 2) and cut (ISO Cut A) protection suitable for disposable application under EN388, which sets out requirements for the mechanical protection of safety gloves. It tests their resistance to a range of impacts like cuts, abrasions, punctures and tears.
Acetone is widely used in automotive workshops, for cleaning electronic components, on industrial shopfloors, in manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, synthetic materials, plastics and industrial adhesives, in laboratories, and even in nail salons.
But according to Ji-hee Noh, Senior Specialist Brand Product Marketing at Ansell, employers may not always be fully aware of the risks of acetone, even when workers are using it all the time. She says acetone can quickly destroy standard hand protection, sometimes in just a few minutes, and workers need gloves specifically engineered to provide reliable protection against exposure.
““TouchNTuff gloves are a market-first, offering workers an effective way to protect their hands for longer when handling this powerful chemical,” she says. “Acetone presents a serious risk in the Australian workplace. It’s important for employers and workers to understand how solvents and gloves interact and the correct choice of PPE. This is where AnsellGUARDIAN can also help.”
Blackwoods is proud to offer Ansell as part of our commitment to keeping Australian workers safe. As the country’s largest provider of industrial and safety equipment, we’ve got everything you need to protect your team. Don’t let inadequate hand protection compromise safety. Ask your Blackwoods representative about upgrading to TouchNTuff 93-800 disposable gloves at your workplace, to help protect your workers from the risks of acetone exposure.