Permeability of protective gloves by HEMA and TEGDMA in the presence of solvents

The breakthrough times and permeation rates of two commonly used allergenic components in dentin bonding agents or resins, HEMA and TEGDMA, were measured for 5 types of latex gloves and 5 types of nitrile gloves. In addition, the breakthrough times and permeation rates for the gloves were measured for HEMA and TEGDMA when diluted with either ethanol or acetone-solvents often appearing in dentin bonding agents. The mean breakthrough times for the 5 latex gloves for HEMA and TEGDMA, concentrated, diluted in ethanol, or diluted in acetone, were 4.9, 4.8, and 2.8 min, respectively. For the 5 nitrile gloves the equivalent breakthrough times were 15.7, 9.9, and 2.8 min, respectively. There were great variations between the various gloves, and 1 nitrile glove showed a breakthrough time of 28-30 min when tested with concentrated HEMA and TEGDMA. Compared to latex gloves, nitrile gloves have a longer-lasting protection against skin contamination with methacrylates in the absence of solvents. The longer protection was reduced or not present for methacrylates diluted in organic solvents, especially acetone. In addition, the nitrile gloves showed fairly high permeation rates in the presence of this solvent. The results indicate that latex and nitrile gloves only give a limited protection against allergenic methacrylates in dentin bonding agents when they contain acetone.