Pesticide glove permeation analysis: comparison of the ASTM F739 test method with an automated flow-through reverse-phase liquid chromatography procedure.

The results of two methods of analysis for measuring glove permeability to pesticides are reported. The standard ASTM F739-85 testing procedure was used to determine breakthrough times and permeation rates for four protective glove materials for two commercially available pesticide formulations. The same glove materials and pesticides then were tested using an in-house developed automated in-vitro diffusion analysis (AIDA) procedure. The ASTM and AIDA procedures both demonstrated no detectable breakthrough of Sevin 50W or 2,4-D Amine 96% for nitrile butyl rubber and polyvinyl chloride gloves. Although no breakthrough of Sevin 50W or 2,4-D Amine 96 was detected for natural rubber or neoprene gloves following the ASTM procedure, permeation was observed in 2 of 3 replicate tests for both rubber and neoprene gloves when using the AIDA method. The observed discrepancy may have been caused by a longer sampling duration for the AIDA method (16 hr) than the ASTM procedure (8 hr). Advantages of the AIDA procedure are discussed.