Ansell Touch N Tuff® top performer in chemical tests
January 16th 2007

Ansell Healthcare Europe announces conclusive results of independent lab tests of the performance of its chemical splash resistant Touch N Tuff® gloves. These tests demonstrate the superior protection provided by Ansell Touch N Tuff® gloves in response to EU regulation on the protection of workers from chemical substances.

Specifically designed for production employees who are at risk from chemical splashes in the workplace, the nitrile Touch N Tuff® has been extensively tested against a wide variety of hazardous industrial chemicals by the independent laboratory Centexbel. The results have shown a high level of protection for chemicals from nine families for these single-use gloves. The industries which use these hazardous chemicals include chemicals and cosmetics manufacturing, automotive production, laboratories and pharmaceutical industries, as well as food processing, dry cleaning, cleaning products, inks and dyes. The gloves’ 100% nitrile composition is highly recommended against the aliphatic hydrocarbons present in lubricants.

With enhanced safety data sheets about the chemicals which pose a hazard to workers, selecting the safest, best performing glove for a job has become more important than ever before, and this in virtually all industries.

Manufactured from 100% nitrile, Ansell’s Touch N Tuff® glove offers four times the puncture resistance of comparable natural-latex gloves, and three times the resistance of similar neoprene gloves. Chemical permeation testing by an independent certified laboratory (Centexbel, Belgium), has confirmed that Touch N Tuff® offers high levels of protection compared to ten competing products. Touch N Tuff® ranked first or second for eight out of nine key chemicals from the principal chemical families. These included xylene, acetic acid, ethanol, perchloroethylene, triethylene, isopropanol, hydrochloric acid, ammonium hydroxide and cyclohexanone.

Because Touch N Tuff® is made from nitrile, it effectively eliminates the risk of allergies to latex proteins (Type I) for the wearer, and has shown no evidence of risk from irritation or Type IV allergies. They are even suitable for food contact.

The Touch N Tuff® is a single use glove which is flexible and easy to don. The form of the glove has been specially studied to optimise wearing comfort. Workers get a clean, never-worn glove each time they need to mix chemicals, pull racks and frames, empty overflows, work with hazardous waste recovery or clean up spills. With Touch N Tuff®, Ansell offers a veritable “insurance policy” against accidental exposure to chemicals.

Ansell Touch N Tuff® is a registered trademark of Ansell Ltd. or one of its affiliates.

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