prEN 374-1

Protective gloves against chemicals and micro-organisms - Part 1: Terminology and performance requirements

This standard specifies the requirements for gloves to protect the user against chemicals and/or micro-organisms and defines terms to be used. This standard should be used in conjunction with EN 420.

Schutzhandschuhe gegen Chemikalien und Mikroorganismen - Teil 1: Terminologie und Leistungsanforderungen

Diese Norm legt Anforderungen an Handschuhe fest, die den Anwender gegen Chemikalien und/oder Mikro-organismen schützen, und definiert die anzuwendenden Begriffe.
Diese Europäische Norm muss in Verbindung mit EN 420 angewendet werden.

Gants de protection contre les produits chimiques et les micro-organismes - Partie 1: Terminologie et exigences de performance

La présente norme spécifie les exigences de performance requises des gants destinés à la protection des utilisateurs contre les produits chimiques et/ou les micro-organismes et définit les termes à utiliser.
La présente norme doit être utilisée conjointement avec l'EN 420.

Varovalne rokavice za zaščito pred kemikalijami in mikroorganizmi - 1. del: Izrazje in zahteve za izdelavo

General Information

• Status: Not Published
• Publication Date: 04-Mar-2012
• Withdrawal Date: 04-Sep-2012
• ICS: 01.040.13 - Environment. Health protection. Safety (Vocabularies)
• ICS: 13.340.10 - Protective clothing
• ICS: 13.340.40 - Hand and arm protection
• Technical Committee: CEN/TC 162 - Protective clothing including hand and arm protection and lifejackets
• Drafting Committee: CEN/TC 162/WG 8 - Protective gloves
• Current Stage: 4098 - Decision to abandon - Enquiry
• Start Date: 06-Jul-2011
• Completion Date: 06-Jul-2011
• Directive: 89/686/EEC - Council Directive 89/686/EEC of 21 December 1989 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to personal protective equipment
• Directive: 93/68/EEC - Council Directive amending Dir. 87/404/EEC (simple pressure vessels), 88/378/EEC (safety of toys), 89/106/EEC (construction products), 89/336/EEC (electromagnetic compatibility), 89/392/EEC (machinery), 89/686/EEC (personal protective equipment), 90/384/EEC (automatic weighing instruments), 90/385/EEC (active implantable medicinal devices), 90/396/EEC (appliances burning gaseous fuels), 91/263/EEC (telecommunications terminal equipment), 92/42/EEC and 73/23/EEC
• Directive: 93/95/EEC - Personal protective equipment (Dir. 89/686/EEC amendment)
• Directive: 96/58/EC - Personal protective equipment (Dir. 89/686/EEC amendment)
• Mandate: M/031 - Standardization mandate to CEN/CENELEC concerning standards for Personal Protective Equipment
• Ref Project: oSIST prEN 374-1:2009 - Protective gloves against chemicals and micro-organisms - Part 1: Terminology and performance requirements

Relations

• Revises: EN 374-1:2003 - Protective gloves against chemicals and micro-organisms - Part 1: Terminology and performance requirements
• Effective Date: 19-Jan-2023

Overview

The prEN 374-1 standard, developed by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), specifies essential terminology and performance requirements for protective gloves designed to safeguard users against harmful chemicals and micro-organisms. This standard is a critical reference for manufacturers and users of protective gloves, ensuring safety compliance and clear communication regarding glove capabilities. It complements the general glove requirements outlined in EN 420, providing a comprehensive framework for chemical and micro-organism protection.

Key Topics

• Scope and Definitions: prEN 374-1 clearly defines terms such as penetration, permeation, and degradation, essential for understanding glove performance against chemical and biological hazards.

• Performance Requirements:

  • Chemical Resistance: Gloves must demonstrate resistance to penetration (no leaks) and permeation (chemical passage at molecular level), verified through standardized test methods EN 374-2 (penetration) and EN 374-3 (permeation).
  • Micro-organism Resistance: Gloves are tested to prevent penetration by bacteria, viruses, and fungi, with virus resistance assessed per ISO 16604.
  • Mechanical Properties: Resistance to abrasion, cutting, tearing, and puncture must be reported, ensuring gloves withstand workplace mechanical risks as per EN 388.

• Testing Procedures:

  • Penetration Test: Detects leaks caused by imperfections such as pinholes or seams.
  • Permeation Test: Measures the breakthrough time for specific hazardous chemicals using a list of standard test chemicals (e.g., methanol, acetone, toluene).
  • Virus Penetration Resistance: Special evaluation for gloves claiming viral protection.

• Marking and Labelling:

  • Gloves must have markings including the EN 374 standard number and appropriate pictograms indicating protection type: chemical-resistant, specific chemical resistance, or micro-organism resistance.
  • Labels must include chemical codes and performance levels to inform users clearly.

• Manufacturer’s Information:

  • Products should come with detailed user information specifying tested chemicals, permeation performance levels, and suitable usage warnings.
  • A cautionary note must indicate that actual workplace protection may vary due to environmental factors like temperature, abrasion, or degradation.

Applications

prEN 374-1-compliant gloves are vital in sectors where exposure to hazardous chemicals or infectious agents is likely. Typical usage scenarios include:

• Chemical Industry: Workers handling solvents, acids, and other hazardous substances rely on tested gloves to prevent chemical burns and systemic toxicity.
• Healthcare and Laboratory Settings: Protection against bacteria, viruses, and fungi for healthcare professionals, lab technicians, and sanitation workers.
• Agriculture and Pest Control: Safeguarding against pesticides and other agrochemicals.
• Manufacturing and Industrial Maintenance: Handling oils, solvents, and chemicals safely during equipment maintenance or production processes.

The standard assists safety officers and procurement specialists in selecting gloves that meet minimum safety performance, reducing workplace injuries and contamination risks.

Related Standards

• EN 420: General requirements and test methods for protective gloves, essential for understanding the base glove performance.
• EN 374-2: Specifies methods for determining the resistance of gloves to chemical penetration.
• EN 374-3: Covers testing for chemical permeation resistance.
• prEN 374-4 (Under development): Will address degradation resistance by chemicals.
• EN 388: Standards on gloves’ mechanical resistance (abrasion, cut, tear, puncture).
• ISO 16604: Test method for resistance to viral penetration via bacteriophage testing.

Compliance with prEN 374-1, together with these associated standards, ensures thorough testing and reliable designation of protective gloves fit for professional use against chemistry and micro-organisms.

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Keywords: prEN 374-1, protective gloves, chemical resistant gloves, micro-organism resistance, glove standards, EN 420, EN 374-2, EN 374-3, glove performance, penetration test, permeation test, virus resistant gloves, workplace safety gloves, CEN standards.

Standards Content (Sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-oktober-2009
9DURYDOQHURNDYLFH]D]DãþLWRSUHGNHPLNDOLMDPLLQPLNURRUJDQL]PLGHO,]UD]MH
LQ]DKWHYH]DL]GHODYR
Protective gloves against chemicals and micro-organisms - Part 1: Terminology and
performance requirements
Schutzhandschuhe gegen Chemikalien und Mikroorganismen - Teil 1: Terminologie und
Leistungsanforderungen
Gants de protection contre les produits chimiques et les micro-organismes - Partie 1:
Terminologie et exigences de performance
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: prEN 374-1
ICS:
01.040.13 Varstvo okolja in zdravja. Environment and health
Varnost (Slovarji) protection. Safety
(Vocabularies)
13.340.40 Varovanje dlani in rok Hand and arm protection
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

EUROPEAN STANDARD
DRAFT
NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
July 2009
ICS 01.040.13; 13.340.10 Will supersede EN 374-1:2003
English Version
Protective gloves against chemicals and micro-organisms - Part
1: Terminology and performance requirements
Gants de protection contre les produits chimiques et les Schutzhandschuhe gegen Chemikalien und
micro-organismes - Partie 1: Terminologie et exigences de Mikroorganismen - Teil 1: Terminologie und
performance Leistungsanforderungen
This draft European Standard is submitted to CEN members for enquiry. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee CEN/TC 162.
If this draft becomes a European Standard, CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which
stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration.
This draft European Standard was established by CEN in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language
made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN Management Centre has the
same status as the official versions.
CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal,
Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
Recipients of this draft are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of any relevant patent rights of which they are aware and to
provide supporting documentation.
Warning : This document is not a European Standard. It is distributed for review and comments. It is subject to change without notice and
shall not be referred to as a European Standard.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION
EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG
Management Centre: Avenue Marnix 17, B-1000 Brussels
© 2009 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. prEN 374-1:2009: E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
Foreword .3
1 Scope .4
2 Normative references .4
3 Terms and definitions .4
4 Methods of testing .5
5 Performance requirement .6
5.1 Gloves against chemicals .6
5.1.1 Penetration .6
5.1.2 Permeation .6
5.1.3 Mechanical characteristics .6
5.2 Protective glove against chemical of interest .7
5.2.1 Penetration .7
5.2.2 Permeation .7
5.2.3 Mechanical characteristics .7
5.3 Protective gloves against micro organisms .7
5.3.1 Penetration .7
5.3.2 Resistance against penetration by virus .7
5.3.3 Mechanical characteristics .8
6 Marking .8
7 Information supplied by the manufacturer .9
7.1 Chemical resistant gloves .9
7.2 Virus resistant gloves .9
Annex A (informative) List of test chemicals . 10
Annex ZA (informative) Relationship between this European Standard and the Essential
Requirements of EC Directive 89/686/EC . 11

Foreword
This document (prEN 374-1:2009) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 162 “Protective
clothing including hand and arm protection and lifejackets”, the secretariat of which is held by DIN.
This document is currently submitted to the CEN Enquiry.
This document will supersede EN 374-1:2003.
This document has been prepared under a mandate given to CEN by the European Commission and the
European Free Trade Association, and supports essential requirements of EC Directive 89/686/EEC.
For relationship with EC Directive, see informative Annex ZA, which is an integral part of this document.
1 Scope
This standard specifies the requirements for gloves to protect the user against chemicals and/or micro-
organisms and defines terms to be used.
This standard shall be used in conjunction with EN 420.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced
document (including any amendments) applies.
EN 374-2, Protective gloves against chemicals and micro-organisms — Part 2: Determination of resistance to
penetration.
EN 374-3, Protective gloves against chemicals and micro-organisms — Part 3: Determination of resistance to
permeation by chemicals.
1)
prEN 374-4 Protective gloves against chemicals and micro-organisms — Part 4: Determination of
resistance to degradation by chemicals.
EN 388, Protective gloves against mechanical risks.
EN 420, General requirements for gloves.
ISO 2859-1:1999, Sampling procedures for inspection by attributes — Part 1: Sampling schemes indexed by
acceptance quality limit (AQL) for lot-by-lot inspection.
ISO 16604:2004, Clothing for protection against contact with blood and body fluids — Determination of
resistance of protective clothing materials to penetration by blood-borne pathogens/test method using
bacteriophage phi-x174 .
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
3.1
protective glove material
any material or combination of materials used in a glove for the purpose of isolating the hands or hands and
arms from direct contact with a chemical and/or micro-organism
3.2
protective gloves against chemicals
gloves fulfilling the requirements of clause 5.1
3.3
protective gloves against chemical of interest
gloves fulfilling the requirements of clause 5.2

1) under development
3.4
protective gloves against micro-organisms
at this time it is believed that gloves which resist penetration, when tested according to clause 5.3, form an
effective barrier to bacteria, virus and fungi
3.5
degradation
deleterious change in one or more properties of a protective glove material due to contact with a chemical.
These changes include flaking, swelling, disintegration, embitterment, discolouration, dimensions,
appearance, hardening, softening, etc
3.6
Penetration
movement of a chemical and/or micro-organism through porous materials, seams, pinholes, or other
imperfections in a protective glove material on a non-molecular level
3.7
permeation
process by which a chemical moves through a protective glove material on a molecular level. Permeation
involves the following:
 absorption of molecules of the chemical into the contacted (outside) surface of a material;
 diffusion of the absorbed molecules in the material;
 desorption of the molecules from the opposite (inside) surface of the material.
3.8
test chemical
chemical or mixture of chemicals that is used to determine the breakthrough time in the laboratory test
conditions. The chemical will be one which causes adverse effects on the skin or to the human body by
contact with the skin
3.9
breakthrough time
elapsed time between the initial application of a test chemical to the outside surface of a protective glove
material and its subsequent presence on the other side of the material, measured as described in EN 374-3
4 Methods of testing
Detailed test methods will be found in the following parts of this standard:
 Penetration: EN 374-2
 Permeation: EN 374-3
 Degradation : prEN
...