Can Medical-Grade Gloves Provide Protection after Repeated Disinfection?

Abstract

The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has generated an increased consumption of personal protective equipment (PPE), including gloves and masks, by healthcare workers and by the general public at a global scale. This has generated substantial shortage of these single-use and disposable PPEs that will end up as a landfill waste. Extending the life cycle of PPEs, such as gloves, by disinfecting treatments could help mitigate these concerns. However, the effect of various disinfection treatments on the functionality of gloves is unknown. In this study, six commonly used viral disinfection treatment methods (i.e., ultraviolet (UV) radiation, dry heat, steam, alcohol, chlorine compounds, and quaternary ammonium compounds) were evaluated for their effect on the performance attributes of two commonly used medical-grade gloves and nitrile and vinyl (latex) gloves. The barrier properties of both gloves against water and ethanol vapor flux were not affected up to 10 cycles of disinfection cycles. However, the increase in the disinfection cycle from 10 to 20 slightly reduced their barrier properties with minor variation in the type of disinfection and glove type. Infrared spectroscopy and microscopy investigations confirmed that both types of gloves could withstand up to 20 cycles of disinfection treatments with no observable change in the chemical structure and surface morphology of the disinfected surfaces, respectively. Lastly, tear property testing of the gloves indicated little to no change from the baseline after 20 cycles of treatment in both the nitrile and vinyl-based gloves. Overall, this study indicated that alcohol, UV, and heat treatment could be acceptable disinfection methods that allow the reuse of gloves up to 20 cycles. Such repeated disinfection of gloves not only reduces the strain on the supply of gloves but also decreases the postconsumer landfilled waste and environmental footprint of gloves.

A review of environmental and economic aspects of medical devices, illustrated with a comparative study of double-lumen tubes used for one-lung ventilation

“…Topics Singleuse vs. reuse (Esmizadeh et al, 2021) Qualitative environmental & economic considerations X (Etim et al, 2021) Medical waste reduction (Farrell & Smyth, 2021) Medical waste reduction (Feldman & Hui, 1997) Health economics (Gaberik et al, 2021) Qualitative environmental & economic considerations (Garay et al, 2017) Health economics X (Ghodrat & Samali, 2018) Economics & environment (Gobbi, 2011) Economics & waste reduction (Goel et al, 2021) Life cycle assessment (Grimmond et al, 2021) Life cycle assessment X (Hazem & Fahim, 2021) Economics & waste reduction (Hemmes, 1991) Health economics X (Ho & Copeland, 2020) Qualitative environmental & economic considerations (Hospodkova & Vochyanova, 2019) Health economics (Houngbo et al, 2008) Health economics (Hoyle, 2011) Health economics (Hsu et al, 2008) Health economics (Hughes et al, 2021) Health economics X (Hunstiger, 1988) Health economics (Hunt et al, 2011) Qualitative environmental & economic considerations (Iyer, 2018) Life cycle assessment (Jordan, 1996) Economics & waste reduction (Kane et al, 2018) Economics & environment (Keyes et al, 1993) Health economics (Khan & Ali, 2014) Medical waste reduction (Kim et al, 2018) Health economics (Koch & James, 1995) Health economics X (Korambayil et al, 2020) Economics & life cycle assessment (Kumar, 2021) Qualitative environmental & economic considerations (Kwakye et al, 2010) Economics & environment X ( Larsen et al, 2019) Health economics X (Latta et al, 2021) Life cycle assessment (Lee & Kim, 2019) Health economics X ( …”

In Situ Ultrafast Construction of Polysaccharide-Based Janus Hydrogel Films by Asymmetric Cross-Linking for On-Demand Sterilization

“…Bacteria are one of the main threats to public health protection, and more than one million people die of bacterial infection every year. − The cross-infection occurring in public spaces serves as a significant contributor to bacterial transmission, and contact transmission is one of the main paths. Currently, 75% alcohol, disinfected water (chlorine-containing disinfectors), and antibiotics are commonly used as an antimicrobial product to reduce the chances of transferring bacteria in public places, , based on their performance of fast and broad-spectrum sterilization. , However, disinfectors containing alcohol and chlorine present a short valid period problem because of their volatility, resulting in multiple and excessive sprays to meet sterilization requirements; thus, they can be enormously wasteful. More importantly, the volatiles of chlorine-containing disinfectants can also cause damage to human respiratory mucosa .…”