Tools & Materials
What’s the Difference: Disposable Gloves
The frugal type will love the low price of latex gloves while nitrile gloves will satisfy those looking for more dependable protection.
Latex vs. nitrile
Thin, disposable latex and nitrile gloves both are widely available and are relatively inexpensive, but they offer different levels of durability and protection.
Latex gloves are significantly less expensive, as little as 7¢ each from Lab Safety Supply (800-356-0783; www.labsafety.com). But they aren’t as durable as nitrile. Latex also can cause a serious allergic reaction in some users. Lab Safety Supply says its latex gloves are made by many overseas suppliers, so each glove’s resistance to different kinds of chemicals is not precisely known.
Nitrile gloves, made in the United States, are more expensive (starting at about 18¢ each) but offer more predictable protection.
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Relatively useless. The material to be worked with dictates which gloves are optimal for protection. This article mentioned nothing related to that.
As someone who once managed a R&D biotech lab, I can say, without too much worry of being contradicted that, as the use of disposable gloves has been widespread since the 1980s, nitrile is the default glove material of choice when working around most chemicals, solvents, lubricants, paints, petroleum products, and related hazardous materials. Most gloves, regardless of material used, sold retail tend to be too thin and have poor tear resistance as a result. In our lab, 4 mil thick nitrile gloves, regardless of brand, and we used several due to various personal preferences of staff, were the glove material most commonly used, regardless of size, because of the wide range of protection offered in terms of type of hazard and duration of exposure before the glove failed to protect from exposure. I preferred using 6 mil nitrile N-Dex gloves from Best Gloves, now part of Showa Gloves due to a more snug fit and greater resistance to penetration by the solvents and broad range of chemicals we used.
The first rule of using disposable gloves is to change frequently and change often.