Key takeaways:
- Biodegradable nitrile gloves matched or outperformed commonplace nitrile gloves in a spread of sturdiness checks.
- They’re dearer than commonplace, nonbiodegradable gloves.
PHOENIX — Biodegradable nitrile gloves are as secure and dependable as commonplace gloves and, in keeping with a presenter, provide a chance to cut back the quantity of nonbiodegradable medical waste deposited in landfills.
“A number of well being care waste is issues we have to assist folks get by these surgical procedures and stay higher lives, however it has to go someplace,” Julie Miller, MS, principal challenge engineer at ECRI, stated throughout a presentation on the Affiliation for Professionals in An infection Management and Epidemiology annual convention.
Biodegradable nitrile gloves might scale back the carbon footprint of medical services. Picture: Adobe Inventory
Consultants have famous extensively that medical waste — drug packaging, gloves, masks, a variety of single-use merchandise and instruments — contributes to the well being business’s vital carbon footprint. One examine confirmed that 12 medical doctors’ glove use in 1 yr produced a carbon footprint of roughly 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide, which is the equal of operating a gasoline-powered automobile engine for five years.
For instance, WHO reported that through the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, greater than 18,000 tons of gloves and three,000 tons of masks had been shipped to medical services in Africa alone, a statistic that doesn’t embrace waste produced by most of the people.
In keeping with Miller, the ASTM Worldwide D6319-19 commonplace for nitrile gloves contains:
- that the suitable high quality restrict for pinholes per batch of gloves is 2.5;
- sizing necessities from further small to further giant, which embrace pointers for minimal thickness (close to the palm and fingertip), minimal size and width tolerance;
- a minimal bodily requirement after being manufactured of 14 megapascals (MPa) and 500% elongation; and
- a minimal bodily requirement six or extra months after being manufactured of 14 MPa and 400% elongation.
For a glove to be thought of biodegradable, ASTM requirements require that microbial breakdown of fabric in an anaerobic atmosphere akin to a landfill, based mostly on a simulated anaerobic atmosphere, occur over the course of months or years as an alternative of centuries, Miller stated.
Miller in contrast the thickness, tensile power, elongation and modulus of biodegradable gloves with testing of normal nitrile gloves she carried out in 2023, evaluating gloves that had been straight out of the field with gloves that had been aged in an oven to simulate being 6 or extra months outdated.
Out of the field, the biodegradable gloves had been much like commonplace gloves. The biodegradable gloves had been .055 mm thick, displayed a tensile stress degree of 34.6 MPa and survived 671% elongation. The usual gloves had been additionally .055 mm thick, displayed a tensile power of 30.8 MPa and survived elongation to 708%.
Amongst aged gloves, the biodegradable nitrile did barely higher than the usual — .054 mm vs. .055 mm in thickness, 36.7 MPa vs. 25.2 MPa in tensile stress and survived elongation to 671% in contrast with 653%.
Miller employed a peg check to quantify how effectively customers carried out duties whereas carrying gloves in contrast with after they had been bare-handed. For a check that required customers to select up a wood peg and place it in a gap, folks carrying biodegradable gloves did barely higher than these carrying commonplace gloves: 15.1 pegs in contrast with 14.3 pegs. When the members in every group did the check bare-handed, the biodegradable glove group positioned 16 pegs in contrast with 14.8 in the usual group.
Moreover, qualitative testing by the glove customers discovered that they’d larger confidence within the biodegradable gloves (90% vs. 86%), although discovered they had been tougher to easy or take off (90% vs. 94%) they usually made a tape process tougher (71.7% vs. 80% accomplished it), however extra folks appreciated their match (76.7% vs. 68%) and located them snug (81.7% vs. 78%).
The biodegradable gloves had been additionally dearer than commonplace gloves. In keeping with Miller, the typical care space price per affected person per day per pair is $0.157 for biodegradable in contrast with $0.132 for normal.
Miller stated she has seen biodegradable gloves in a handful of medical workplaces however isn’t conscious of any widespread adoption.
“The product is there,” Miller stated. “The producers, I’m certain, would like to have some curiosity and, given what I noticed within the testing, they’re fairly comparable in efficiency and person likability — it’s price a shot.”
For extra info:
Julie Miller, MS, may be reached at jmiller@ecri.org.
Sources/Disclosures
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Miller J. Infinite glove: Discussing the potential advantages of biodegradable nitrile. Introduced at: Affiliation for Professionals in An infection Prevention and Epidemiology; June 16-18, 2025; Phoenix.
Disclosures:
Miller reviews no related monetary disclosures.
