Benefits and Drawbacks of Chlorinated Gloves

Powder-free disposable exam gloves have evolved in popularity and now dominate the exam glove industry in natural rubber latex and synthetic latex materials. A process known as chlorination has been one of the most popular methods of manufacturing gloves that don easily for the user without the addition of powder.

What is Chlorination in Glove Production?

Chlorination is a process wherein examination gloves are exposed to chlorine gas or a hypochlorite–hydrochloric acid mixture to harden the glove's surface.

The hardening of the glove surface decreases the surface friction of the glove, thereby allowing gloves to be easily donned without powder. Exam gloves are not the only chlorinated latex products; other products include catheters and baby pacifiers. Many industry experts believe that the process breaks down latex proteins to make them insoluble by reacting with amino groups, disrupting their structure and any reactive units they potentially possess.

The molecular mechanisms that cause the reduction in surface friction result in stable and further cross-linked compounds upon the completion of the chlorination reaction.

This cross-linking is what modifies the glove surface to become hardened and smooth. Upon removing the glove from the processing environment, it is neutralized in a base and washed until the vast majority of residual chlorine is removed. This results in a glove's surface pH being similar to that of water. Once the wash process is completed, the reactive material is removed, and the process is finished.

Although infrequent in occurrence, poorly managed chlorination processes do happen and can have deleterious effects on the physical properties of gloves. These effects include decreased shelf life, decreased elasticity, and decreased strength. Under these circumstances, the gloves could also be difficult to don. In what would be a natural color latex glove, evidence of over-chlorination can be seen as a dark yellow or brown glove, as conjugated vinylidene structures are formed.

How does MICROFLEX® manage Chlorination?

Microflex pays close attention to how its gloves are chlorinated to reap the benefits of chlorination without exposing them to damaging levels or underexposing them so that they are difficult to don and, therefore, unusable. When the chlorination process is controlled, the numerous benefits associated with the process far outweigh the potential drawbacks.

Information provided by Microflex®