Disinfection of gloved hands during the Coronavirus outbreak (COVID-2019)

Garrido-Molina, José Miguel; Márquez-Hernández, Verónica V.; Alcayde-García, Alfredo; Ferreras-Morales, Carlos Alberto; García-Viola, Alba; Aguilera-Manrique, Gabriel; Gutiérrez-Puertas, Lorena

BACKGROUND: In the current pandemic situation, glove disinfection is a process that can be used to care for the same patient or when removing personal protective equipment. For this reason, it is necessary to check compatibility data of the glove with the disinfectant product in glove disinfection. AIM: To test the resistance of nitrile gloves to different disinfectant solutions. METHODS: To analyze the resistance of nitrile gloves, firstly, the gloves were exposed to the disinfectant. The exposure to the disinfectant was analyzed comparing the control group (untreated glove) with the others. For the tensile test, the thickness of each test specimen was measured with a micrometer .100% powder-free nitrile gloves, composed of nitrile Butadiene rubber (NBR) compounds, were used. The 7 most commonly used disinfectant solutions in the healthcare field were selected. FINDINGS: A bleach solution did decrease breaking load, although to a lesser extent than disinfectants that contain ethanol in their composition. CONCLUSION: With the methods used, we have determined the influence that various disinfectants have on nitrile gloves, finding that those which contain alcohol cause a decrease in breaking load.