Overview
ISO 374-2:2019 - Protective gloves against dangerous chemicals and micro-organisms - Part 2: Determination of resistance to penetration specifies laboratory test methods to verify that gloves intended to protect against hazardous chemicals and/or micro-organisms do not permit penetration through holes or defects. The standard defines two complementary test techniques - the air leak test and the water leak test - and sets out sampling, apparatus, procedure and reporting requirements used by manufacturers, test laboratories and conformity assessment bodies.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Test principles
- Air leak test: glove is mounted on a mandrel, immersed in water and internally pressurised; leaks are detected as streams of air bubbles.
- Water leak test: glove is filled with water via a clear tube and inspected for droplets appearing on the outside.
- Note: the air test may be unsuitable for some glove constructions (e.g., non‑homogeneous inflation); in such cases only the water test is applied.
- Sampling
- Test sample: one glove of each size, with a minimum of 4 samples per performed test.
- If any sample fails, the test is reported as failed.
- Apparatus and settings
- Air test requires a circular fixing mandrel, pressure gauge (0–10 kPa) and means to control pressure.
- Nominal air pressure depends on glove thickness (examples from Table 1):
- e ≤ 0.3 mm → 0.5 kPa
- 0.3 < e ≤ 0.5 mm → 2.0 kPa
- 0.5 < e ≤ 1.0 mm → 5.0 kPa
- e > 1.0 mm → 6.0 kPa
- Water test requires a 380 mm fill tube marked at 40 mm from the cuff edge and at least 1 000 ml water supply.
- Procedure details
- Visual inspection before testing; defects cause immediate failure.
- For both methods, leaks within 40 mm of the liquid‑proof edge are disregarded.
- Timing, immersion depths and handling limits are specified to ensure repeatability.
- Test report
- Must reference ISO 374-2:2019 and include glove identity, visual inspection result, pass/fail for each test, air pressure used, and any deviations or reasons for non‑testing.
Applications - who uses this standard
- Glove manufacturers for product design validation and production quality control.
- Independent test laboratories and certification bodies performing conformity assessment and marking decisions.
- Occupational safety professionals, procurement officers and regulators selecting gloves for chemical and microbiological risk environments (laboratories, healthcare, chemical handling, first responders).
- Quality assurance teams using Annex A guidance to implement sampling plans (referencing ISO 2859).
Related standards
- ISO 374-1 - Terminology and performance requirements for chemical risks (referenced normative document).
- ISO 2859 - Sampling procedures for production quality assurance (used in Annex A).
- Note: ISO 374-2:2019 was transferred from EN 374‑2 without technical changes.
Keywords: ISO 374-2:2019, protective gloves, penetration resistance, air leak test, water leak test, chemical protection, micro-organism protection, glove testing, sampling, quality assurance.
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