Guidelines to help you choose the right medical gloves

How to choose medical gloves.

You can understand and use these guidelines to help you make your shopping decisions easier.

1. About Medical Gloves

Medical gloves are disposable gloves, which are personal protective equipment used by doctors and general medical practitioners to prevent the spread of infection or illness during medical procedures and examinations between themselves and patients. Most often, doctors use nitrile gloves or latex gloves, both non-sterile and sterile, for which rubber gloves have long been used in this industry. However, nitrile gloves are more popular than other gloves today, as nitrile gloves have a higher puncture resistance.

2. Type Of Medical Gloves

There are two main types of medical gloves: examination and surgical. The examination gloves are available as sterile or non-sterile. But while, surgical gloves need to be sterilized from the factory they are made.

★ Examination gloves: Use examination gloves when your hands may come into contact with another person's or patient's bodily fluids, such as blood, respiratory secretions, vomit, urine or feces, certain dangerous drugs or items that may be contaminated.

★ Surgical gloves: Their primary function is to prevent the spread of disease during treatment or during surgical procedures.

3. US Standard For Testing Medical Gloves

★ ASTM D7103-19 Standard Guide: Assessment of Medical Gloves

★ ASTM D3577-19 Standard Specification: Rubber Surgical Gloves

★ ASTM D3578 Specification: Rubber Examination Gloves

★ ASTM D5250 Specification: Vinyl Gloves for Medical Application

★ ASTM D6319 Specification: Nitrile Examination Gloves for Medical Application

4. CE Mark And Medical Gloves

The CE mark indicates that a product may be offered for sale legally in any country within the European Union. The sale of gloves in the EU requires that products carry the CE label. Medical gloves must comply with the Medical Device, CE Mark and Medical Gloves Directive.

The requirements and tests to determine the shelf life are as follows:

◆ EN 455-1 Disposable Medical Gloves - Part 1: Requirements and testing for freedom from holes

◆ EN 455-2 Disposable Medical Gloves - Part 2: Requirements and Physical Properties Test

◆ EN 455-3 Disposable Medical Gloves - Part 3: Requirements and testing for biological evaluation

◆ EN 455-4 Disposable Medical Gloves - Part 4: Requirements and Tests to Determine Shelf Life

You can choose the right glove for your application by using these guidelines to make your decision.