EN 3742 resistance to penetration by chemicals and micro-organisms

EN 374 is a European standard that sets requirements for protective gloves intended to protect against chemicals and micro-organisms. The standard is divided into two parts:

• EN 374-1: This part of the standard deals with the general requirements for protective gloves, including issues such as materials, construction, size and brands.
• EN 374-2: This part of the standard deals with the specific requirements for gloves intended to protect against chemicals and micro-organisms. The standard specifies the performance levels that gloves must meet to be considered protective, as well as the test methods and procedures to be used to evaluate their performance.

According to EN 374-2, gloves intended to protect against chemicals and micro-organisms must achieve certain minimum performance levels to be considered protective. These performance levels are based on the type of chemicals or micro-organisms the gloves are intended to protect against, as well as the duration of exposure and the type of hazard the gloves are intended to protect against (e.g. skin contact, liquid spraying, etc.).

The standard also specifies the test methods and procedures to be used to evaluate the performance of gloves in relation to chemical and micro-organism protection. These tests are designed to simulate conditions that gloves may encounter during use and include, for example, tests for permeation (i.e. the ability of a chemical to penetrate the glove material), degradation (i.e. the effect of a chemical on the physical properties of the glove material) and bacterial and viral penetration (i.e. the ability of micro-organisms to penetrate the glove material).