What gloves for methylene chloride? Solvent by solvent, from MCR Safety’s EN ISO 374-1 chemical matrix

None of MCR Safety’s: no style on its EN ISO 374-1 matrix carries letter D (dichloromethane). The gloves other manufacturers list for it are polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and laminate film styles; the manufacturer’s breakthrough time for that glove is the figure to use.

MCR Safety’s nitrile styles do not list it. Nitrile carries letters for n-heptane, the acids and bases and formaldehyde on MCR Safety’s matrix, not for the chlorinated solvents or ketones.

The EN ISO 374-1 test chemicals the glove passed at over 30 minutes (Type A and B) or over 10 minutes (Type C): A methanol, B acetone, C acetonitrile, D dichloromethane, E carbon disulphide, F toluene, G diethylamine, I ethyl acetate, J n-heptane, K sodium hydroxide, L sulphuric acid, M nitric acid, N acetic acid, O ammonium hydroxide, P hydrogen peroxide, S hydrofluoric acid, T formaldehyde.

The Nitri-Chem 5350 (22 mil, 18 inch nitrile) at eleven letters (A G J K L M N O P S T) and the Nitri-Chem 5319E and 5309 at nine, as the matrix prints them.

Type A passed six or more test chemicals at over 30 minutes, Type B three or more; the type says how many, the letters say which. A Type B glove with the letter you need is the listed glove for that chemical.

EN ISO 374-1:2016, the European standard for gloves against dangerous chemicals (BS is the British adoption of the same text): a glove is Type A, B or C by how many of the eighteen test chemicals it held for 30 minutes (six, three, or one for 10 minutes), and the letters under the flask name the chemicals it passed. MCR Safety’s chemical matrix is a table of those letters for each style, which is where the solvent-by-solvent answer above comes from.

Butyl is the material manufacturers’ charts place with ketones (acetone) and esters, where nitrile breaks through in minutes; MCR Safety’s line has no butyl glove, so none appears in the band. A buyer who needs a glove for acetone goes to a manufacturer whose chart lists it with a breakthrough time.

Eighteen: A methanol, B acetone, C acetonitrile, D dichloromethane, E carbon disulphide, F toluene, G diethylamine, H tetrahydrofuran, I ethyl acetate, J n-heptane, K sodium hydroxide 40%, L sulphuric acid 96%, M nitric acid 65%, N acetic acid 99%, O ammonium hydroxide 25%, P hydrogen peroxide 30%, S hydrofluoric acid 40%, T formaldehyde 37%. MCR Safety’s gloves carry letters from A, G, J and K through T; none carries B, D or F.

The glove whose chart lists the chemical on the safety data sheet: on MCR Safety’s matrix the Nitri-Chem nitrile styles carry the acids, bases, n-heptane and formaldehyde letters, the NeoMax neoprene styles add methanol, and the PVC styles carry the acids and bases; drain cleaners (sodium hydroxide, sulphuric acid) are letters K and L. The chart, not the trade, picks the glove.