Effect of different materials of gloves on microclimate inside gloves in the subjects wearing protective clothing

Abstract

We compared the effects of two kinds of gloves with different materials for pesticide spraying on mainly clothing microclimate inside the gloves at an ambient temperature of 28°C and a relative humidity of 60%. One was made of polyurethane in whole gloves (A) and another was special gloves being composed of two parts of polyurethane (around hand and wrist) and fabric laminated with nylon taffta, Goretex and nylon tricot (around forearm) (B) . Each gloves had about the same weight and length. Seven young female adults were served as subjects. They took a rest with protective clothing ensemble for 15 min and then repeated three work/rest cycles of 15 min exercise on a bicycle ergometer (50 w) followed by 5 min rest. Rectal and skin temperatures, heart rate and clothing microclimate temperatures and humidity inside and outside of gloves were measured during the experimental periods. The amount of sweat adhered to the clothing ensemble was calculated by weight difference of the clothing before and after the experiments. Main results were summarized as follows: 1) The absolute humidity inside gloves on the forearm was significantly lower in B, but that of outside gloves was significantly higher in B than in A. 2) Clothing microclimate temperatures inside gloves and outside gloves were lower in B than in A, respectively. 3) The weight gain of gloves was significantly lower in B than in A. 4) An increase of forearm skin temperature was significantly lower in B than in A, while there did not exist any differences in rectal temperature. The present findings suggest that gloves materials are of importance in the improvement of microclimate temperature and humidity inside gloves during rest and exercise under hot environmental conditions.