Permeation of neoprene protective gloves by acetone: comparison of three different permeation cells in an open-loop system.

The increased interest in protective capacity of chemical protective clothing materials has resulted in an increasing number of reports from permeation testing, performed by various test procedures and with permeation cells of different configurations. To make it possible to compare the resultant data, it is necessary to identify what parameters will have a decisive influence on test results. The influence of various carrier gas flow rates on breakthrough time and permeation rate of acetone through gloves made of neoprene was investigated using three permeation cells of different configurations. The breakthrough times were not influenced by cell design or gas flow rate. On the other hand, both cell configuration and gas flow rate influenced the steady-state permeation rate.