Glossary of terms and acronyms

ACCELERATORS – Chemicals added during the glove manufacturing process, used to control the physical properties of the latex film, include carbamates and thiurams.

ANSI – American National Standards Institute – A voluntary organization and member of ISO that creates standards for the computer industry.

ASTM – American Society for Testing and Materials – A volunteer organization which executes standards used to certify products for consumer purchase.

AQL – ACCEPTABLE QUALITY LEVEL – The AQL is the quality level that is the worst tolerable process average when a continuing series of lots is submitted for acceptance sampling. The lower the AQL number, the less defects allowed per sample size to fail.

CHLORINATION – A Process using chlorine to achieve a powder-free surface finish for a glove.

DOUBLE POLYMER COATING – A non chlorinated process, using polymer material for both inside and outside surfaces, to achieve a powder free surface finish for a glove.

ELONGATION – The number of times a glove can be stretched from its original length until it breaks – expressed in percentage, e.g., 800% elongation demonstrates a test dumbbell stretched eight times its original length before breaking.

FORMER – A ceramic glove mold used on the manufacturing line.

FDA 510K – Pre-market medical device approval issued by the United States Food & Drug Administration. Required for a medical glove to be imported and marketed in the United States.

HEVEA BRASILIENSIS – A perennial, evergreen tree, indigenous to Brazil and widely grown in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand; that is the source of 99% of the world’s natural rubber production.

HOLE – A hole found in a glove that is visible to the naked eye.

INSPECTION LEVEL – The criteria that identifies the number of sample pieces to be inspected in a given lot.

ISO – International Standards Organization – ISO is an international organization composed of national standards bodies from over 75 countries.

ISO 9001:2000 – Quality Management System which specifies the audit requirements that will produce consistency in product quality; intended to meet or exceeds customer specifications; ultimately improving customer satisfaction.

LATEX – An emulsion of rubber or plastic globules in water used in paints, adhesives, and various synthetic rubber products including gloves.

MIL STD – Military Standard

MODULUS – The force required to stretch the glove to a specific length of its original length, e.g., the MPa measured at 300% and 500% of a gloves elongation.

MONOMER – A single molecule that has the ability to combine with identical or similar molecules, a process also known as polymerization.

MPa – MEGA PASCALS – Unit of measure used to report tensile testing.

NITRILE – A synthetic material extracted from petroleum used in glove manufacturing.

NFPA – National Fire Protection Association – A voluntary membership organization whose goals are to promote and improve fire protection and prevention.

NEOPRENE – Chloroprene rubber, also extracted from petroleum, raw material used in glove manufacturing.

PINHOLE – A minute hole found in a glove but not visible to the naked eye. Watertight tests are conducted to detect this size of hole.

POLYMER – A chain of many monomers.

POLYMERIZATION – A chemical reaction in which two or more molecules, or monomers, combine to form larger molecules, or polymers.

PREPOWDERED GLOVE – A glove that has powder coated on the surface, usually corn starch.

PROTEIN – A residual organic protein found in the latex base material.

PVC – POLY VINYL CHLORIDE– A chlorine based inexpensive plastic raw material used in glove manufacturing.

PE – POLYETHYLENE – A chlorine free plastic raw material used in glove manufacturing.

PP – POLYPROPYLENE – A chlorine-free plastic used in glove manufacturing.

PSI – POUNDS PER SQUARE INCH – Unit of measure used to report tensile testing.

REZTAK™ – A proprietary finish applied in the glove manufacturing process that eliminates tapes or adhesives from bonding to the glove surface.

SPC – STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL – The application of statistical techniques to control a process.

SMOOTH SURFACE – The gloves surface is smooth, can be full glove or only at palm and cuff.

SYNTHETIC – A substance that is formulated or manufactured by a chemical process or by a process that chemically changes a substance extracted from naturally occurring plant, animal, or mineral sources.

TENSILE – A measure of force at break per square area of material – expressed in mega-pascals (MPa) or pounds per square inch (PSI).

TEXTURED SURFACE – The gloves surface has a bisque finish, can increase dexterity, can be full surface or just applied to fingers or fingertips.

THERMOPLASTIC ELASTOMERS – plastics capable of being repeatedly softened by increases in temperature and hardened by decreases in temperature, Generally a rubber-like substance which is easily deformed by a force but returns to its original shape.

UL – UNDERWRITERS LABORATORIES – An international test organization that conducts testing and certifies entities to various standards.

VISUAL DEFECTS – Surface defects visible to the naked eye, e.g., non removable dirt, stain, holes, defective beading, pleating.

VULCANIZE – The process of treating rubber or rubber like materials with sulphur at high heat to improve elasticity and strength or to harden the material.

WATERTIGHT TEST – The test utilized to pass or fail the barrier integrity of a glove. A glove is filled with one liter of water, suspended and manipulated for two minutes to determine if the barrier is compromised by a pinhole defect.

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